An Alachua County Public School student has taken top honors in a national healthcare competition.

Amy Mosely, who just graduated from Gainesville High School’s Academy of Health Profession (AHP), won a first place medal in the national Health Occupations Students of America competition held in Dallas last week. Mosely won the top award in the Nursing Assistant category by earning the best overall score on a written exam and an actual demonstration of clinical skills, such as taking a patient’s vital signs.

“Only the top three students from each state could even compete in this category,” said Janine Plavac, an instructor with the AHP. “To win it is an enormous honor, and it shows how well prepared she was and how well qualified."

Mosely said her experiences in the AHP, both in the classroom and in clinical settings, helped prepare her for the competition, but she didn’t expect to do so well.

“I looked around during the test and thought ‘One of them is going to win this,’” she said. “I never thought it would be me."

In addition to the competition, the national conference included presentations by nationally-renowned healthcare experts and several sightseeing opportunities. But Mosely said she particularly enjoyed being around more than 4800 high school students from throughout the nation who share her interest in the healthcare field.

“That was great,” she said. “They have the same feelings and the same passion for healthcare as I do."

The national win is the culmination of a very successful high school career for Mosely, who graduated near the top of her class at GHS and won many individual awards both in and out of the AHP program. She’s already earned her state certificate as a nursing assistant, something that high school students are rarely given the opportunity to do.

“Amy’s always been a great student, but I think the training she and other students are getting here at the Academy is really top notch,” said GHS principal Wiley Dixon.

Mosely is headed for the University of Florida in the fall, where she’ll pursue a career in nursing. Ultimately she’d like to become a nurse practitioner. She says the AHP helped confirm her career plans, and thinks other students should take advantage of the opportunity to attend career programs while still in high school.

“You need to think about your career,” she said. “If you can show a university or an employer that you were focused on something and that you know what you want to do, that will be to your benefit no matter what."