HSHS Community Newsletter
Connect • Learn • Grow • Serve
September 2026Volume 1 · Issue 1
Monthly Publication · September 2026
More Than an Honor Society
Curiosity brings us together. Our experiences help us grow. Welcome to a health sciences community where everyone has something to learn and something to contribute.
Volume 1, Issue 1Published September 19, 2026Official HSHS Publication
Inside This Issue
Monthly departments · features · opportunities
- 01From the PresidentFrom the PresidentAn interest in health sciences is all you need to belong.
- 02Our CommunityYour Community, Taking ShapeA shared interest in health sciences. New possibilities together.
- 03ConnectFind Your PeopleBuild relationships across locations, disciplines, and experiences.
- 04LearnLearning Beyond the ClassroomProfessional development created for the health sciences community.
- 05What's Coming UpMark Your CalendarMake time to connect, learn, and grow with us.
- 06People of HSHSMeet the People Behind HSHSGet to know the people helping our community grow.
- 07Get InvolvedFind Your PlaceBring your interests. Share your talents. Help our community grow.
- 08Before You GoLet’s Build What Comes NextCelebrating the people who make this community worth belonging to.
01
From the President
From the President
An interest in health sciences is all you need to belong.
Welcome to our first HSHS Community Newsletter! Whether you're studying health sciences, working in the field, exploring a new career, or simply curious about where health sciences may take you, I'm glad you're here.
When we began building this community, the goal was never simply to create another website or another organization people joined and eventually forgot about. We wanted to create a place where students, alumni, faculty, professionals, and others interested in health sciences could connect with one another, continue learning, and share the experiences that have shaped their own journeys.
Academic achievement remains an important part of HSHS, but recognition is only one part of what we hope this community becomes. There should also be opportunities to meet people outside your classroom or workplace, learn something useful, ask questions, share what you know, and help someone else move forward.
That is what "More Than an Honor Society" means to me.
As you explore this first issue, I hope you'll find at least one reason to participate. Introduce yourself. Explore HSHS Connect. Visit the Training Center. Join us for an event. Share an idea. Even a small contribution can help turn an online organization into an actual community.
We're still building, and there is much more ahead. I'm excited to see where we take it together.
Richard Stogoski
President, Health Sciences Honor Society
When we began building this community, the goal was never simply to create another website or another organization people joined and eventually forgot about. We wanted to create a place where students, alumni, faculty, professionals, and others interested in health sciences could connect with one another, continue learning, and share the experiences that have shaped their own journeys.
Academic achievement remains an important part of HSHS, but recognition is only one part of what we hope this community becomes. There should also be opportunities to meet people outside your classroom or workplace, learn something useful, ask questions, share what you know, and help someone else move forward.
That is what "More Than an Honor Society" means to me.
As you explore this first issue, I hope you'll find at least one reason to participate. Introduce yourself. Explore HSHS Connect. Visit the Training Center. Join us for an event. Share an idea. Even a small contribution can help turn an online organization into an actual community.
We're still building, and there is much more ahead. I'm excited to see where we take it together.
Richard Stogoski
President, Health Sciences Honor Society
02
Our Community
Your Community, Taking Shape
A shared interest in health sciences. New possibilities together.
An online organization can easily become a place people visit once and forget. We want HSHS to become something different: a community that becomes more useful as more people participate.
Our members and visitors come from different academic programs, professions, locations, and stages of their careers. Some are beginning their first health sciences degree. Others bring years of clinical, administrative, educational, or leadership experience. Those differences are part of what can make this community valuable.
You may come here looking for an answer to a question and discover someone working in a field you had never considered. You may share an experience from your own career that helps another student make a decision. A casual introduction might become a professional connection, a mentoring relationship, or simply someone you enjoy learning alongside.
There is no single way to participate in HSHS. You can join a conversation, attend an event, share a resource, write for the Community Blog, explore professional development, or simply get to know the people around you.
The community is still taking shape, and that means the people participating today have a real opportunity to influence what it becomes tomorrow.
Our members and visitors come from different academic programs, professions, locations, and stages of their careers. Some are beginning their first health sciences degree. Others bring years of clinical, administrative, educational, or leadership experience. Those differences are part of what can make this community valuable.
You may come here looking for an answer to a question and discover someone working in a field you had never considered. You may share an experience from your own career that helps another student make a decision. A casual introduction might become a professional connection, a mentoring relationship, or simply someone you enjoy learning alongside.
There is no single way to participate in HSHS. You can join a conversation, attend an event, share a resource, write for the Community Blog, explore professional development, or simply get to know the people around you.
The community is still taking shape, and that means the people participating today have a real opportunity to influence what it becomes tomorrow.
03
Connect
Find Your People
Build relationships across locations, disciplines, and experiences.
One of the challenges of attending an online university is that the person who shares your interests, lives nearby, works in a similar field, or has experience you could learn from may be enrolled in a completely different course. You might never have a reason to meet.
HSHS Connect is designed to change that.
Connect gives members another way to discover the people who make up our community. Geographic locations and member information can help you find people whose academic, professional, or personal interests overlap with your own and create connections that would otherwise be difficult to make in a large online environment.
That connection does not have to begin with a formal mentoring relationship or professional request. Sometimes it starts with simply realizing that another member lives near you, works in an area you're interested in, or has already taken a path you're considering.
Over time, we want Connect to help make HSHS feel less like a collection of usernames and more like a network of real people who know one another, exchange ideas, and support each other's growth.
If you haven't explored it yet, take a look at who is already part of the community. You may find someone worth introducing yourself to.
HSHS Connect is designed to change that.
Connect gives members another way to discover the people who make up our community. Geographic locations and member information can help you find people whose academic, professional, or personal interests overlap with your own and create connections that would otherwise be difficult to make in a large online environment.
That connection does not have to begin with a formal mentoring relationship or professional request. Sometimes it starts with simply realizing that another member lives near you, works in an area you're interested in, or has already taken a path you're considering.
Over time, we want Connect to help make HSHS feel less like a collection of usernames and more like a network of real people who know one another, exchange ideas, and support each other's growth.
If you haven't explored it yet, take a look at who is already part of the community. You may find someone worth introducing yourself to.
04
Learn
Learning Beyond the Classroom
Professional development created for the health sciences community.
Academic courses give us a foundation, but professional growth rarely stops when a class ends. Healthcare professionals continue learning throughout their careers through experience, mentorship, continuing education, leadership opportunities, and the knowledge shared by the people around them.
The HSHS Training Center is our way of bringing more of that learning into the community.
The Training Center allows us to develop structured educational experiences that can include lessons, assessments, certificates, and multi-course learning series. Some courses may focus on broad professional-development topics, while others can draw on the expertise already present within the health sciences community.
One of the first major projects is the Preceptor & Workplace Educator Development Series. The series is being developed around the real challenges professionals encounter when teaching and supporting others in the workplace, including instructional planning, psychological safety, feedback, assessing competence, supporting struggling learners, and helping new professionals move toward independent practice.
But the larger goal goes beyond offering courses.
We want HSHS members to eventually have opportunities not only to take training, but also to help create it. Members bring experience from clinical practice, administration, public health, education, technology, research, and many other areas. The Training Center gives us a place where that expertise can become something others can learn from.
The more knowledge our community shares, the more valuable the community becomes.
The HSHS Training Center is our way of bringing more of that learning into the community.
The Training Center allows us to develop structured educational experiences that can include lessons, assessments, certificates, and multi-course learning series. Some courses may focus on broad professional-development topics, while others can draw on the expertise already present within the health sciences community.
One of the first major projects is the Preceptor & Workplace Educator Development Series. The series is being developed around the real challenges professionals encounter when teaching and supporting others in the workplace, including instructional planning, psychological safety, feedback, assessing competence, supporting struggling learners, and helping new professionals move toward independent practice.
But the larger goal goes beyond offering courses.
We want HSHS members to eventually have opportunities not only to take training, but also to help create it. Members bring experience from clinical practice, administration, public health, education, technology, research, and many other areas. The Training Center gives us a place where that expertise can become something others can learn from.
The more knowledge our community shares, the more valuable the community becomes.
05
What's Coming Up
Mark Your Calendar
Make time to connect, learn, and grow with us.
Our virtual events are another opportunity to move beyond the discussion board and spend time learning together in real time.
October 29, 2026 at 12:00 PM Eastern
Finding Your Place in Healthcare: One Journey, Many Possibilities
There is rarely one straight path through the health sciences. Education, unexpected opportunities, professional experiences, leadership roles, and changing interests can all influence where a career eventually leads.
Our upcoming virtual webinar will explore one of those journeys and the possibilities that can emerge along the way. Whether you're still deciding where your education may take you or already established in your profession, the conversation may offer another perspective as you consider your own next step.
Bring your questions and join us live. One of the benefits of building this community is having opportunities to hear directly from people whose experiences may be different from our own.
October 29, 2026 at 12:00 PM Eastern
Finding Your Place in Healthcare: One Journey, Many Possibilities
There is rarely one straight path through the health sciences. Education, unexpected opportunities, professional experiences, leadership roles, and changing interests can all influence where a career eventually leads.
Our upcoming virtual webinar will explore one of those journeys and the possibilities that can emerge along the way. Whether you're still deciding where your education may take you or already established in your profession, the conversation may offer another perspective as you consider your own next step.
Bring your questions and join us live. One of the benefits of building this community is having opportunities to hear directly from people whose experiences may be different from our own.
06
People of HSHS
Meet the People Behind HSHS
Get to know the people helping our community grow.
Communities do not build themselves. Behind HSHS is a group of members, officers, faculty advisors, and volunteers working to create the opportunities you see throughout the site. Our Executive Board includes (from left to right in the image above) Ken Knapp (Membership & Engagement Officer), Amanda Bittrick (Secretary & Operations Officer), Dustin Winters (Vice President), Richard Stogoski (President), Dr. Tonya Breymier (Chapter Advisor), Dr. Kevin Cefali (Chapter Advisor), and Dr. Gudeta Fufaa (Chapter Advisor). Each role focuses on a different part of the member experience, from professional development and communication to engagement and the continued growth of the organization. HSHS is also supported by chapter advisors and faculty members who provide guidance, experience, and institutional perspective as the organization develops. But leadership is only part of the story. Every member who welcomes someone new, answers a question, shares a resource, attends an event, contributes an article, teaches something, or offers an idea becomes part of the group shaping this community. As HSHS grows, we hope this section becomes a place where you can meet more of those people. Future issues can highlight members, accomplishments, professional journeys, volunteers, and the many different paths represented within our community. There are already many stories here. We simply need to start telling them.
07
Get Involved
Find Your Place
Bring your interests. Share your talents. Help our community grow.
You do not need a leadership title to have an impact on HSHS.
Some members may enjoy writing and want to contribute to the Community Blog. Others may have professional knowledge they could eventually turn into a Training Center resource. Someone else may enjoy welcoming new members, participating in events, mentoring, sharing opportunities, or simply answering questions in the community.
There are many ways to contribute, and not all of them require a formal position.
The best place to start is with what you already enjoy doing. If you like writing, share an idea. If you enjoy teaching, consider what knowledge you could pass along. If networking comes naturally to you, help make introductions. If you've discovered a useful resource, share it with someone else.
We will also continue announcing formal leadership and volunteer opportunities as they become available. Those roles can provide members with another way to develop leadership experience while helping HSHS expand what it offers.
Whether you have ten minutes, a professional skill, an interesting story, or an idea we haven't considered yet, there may be a place for it here.
Sometimes getting involved begins with something as simple as saying, "I can help with that."
Some members may enjoy writing and want to contribute to the Community Blog. Others may have professional knowledge they could eventually turn into a Training Center resource. Someone else may enjoy welcoming new members, participating in events, mentoring, sharing opportunities, or simply answering questions in the community.
There are many ways to contribute, and not all of them require a formal position.
The best place to start is with what you already enjoy doing. If you like writing, share an idea. If you enjoy teaching, consider what knowledge you could pass along. If networking comes naturally to you, help make introductions. If you've discovered a useful resource, share it with someone else.
We will also continue announcing formal leadership and volunteer opportunities as they become available. Those roles can provide members with another way to develop leadership experience while helping HSHS expand what it offers.
Whether you have ten minutes, a professional skill, an interesting story, or an idea we haven't considered yet, there may be a place for it here.
Sometimes getting involved begins with something as simple as saying, "I can help with that."
08
Before You Go
Let’s Build What Comes Next
Celebrating the people who make this community worth belonging to.
The first issue of the HSHS Community Newsletter is only a snapshot of where we are today. Connect is growing, the Training Center is developing, events are being planned, new members continue joining, and there are still many ideas waiting to become something real.
What happens next will depend in large part on the people who participate.
Before the next issue, consider taking one small step into the community. Introduce yourself if you haven't already. Explore Connect and see who else is here. Visit the Training Center. Join us for an event. Share something you've learned. Answer someone's question. Or simply tell us what you think HSHS should do next.
We also want future newsletters to tell more of your stories.
If you've graduated, earned a certification, received a promotion, completed research, received an award, participated in meaningful service, changed careers, reached a professional milestone, or simply have an experience that others could learn from, let us know.
Future issues should not only report what HSHS is doing. They should reflect the people who make HSHS what it is.
Thank you for being part of our beginning. We're looking forward to building what comes next with you.
Connect. Learn. Grow. Serve.
What happens next will depend in large part on the people who participate.
Before the next issue, consider taking one small step into the community. Introduce yourself if you haven't already. Explore Connect and see who else is here. Visit the Training Center. Join us for an event. Share something you've learned. Answer someone's question. Or simply tell us what you think HSHS should do next.
We also want future newsletters to tell more of your stories.
If you've graduated, earned a certification, received a promotion, completed research, received an award, participated in meaningful service, changed careers, reached a professional milestone, or simply have an experience that others could learn from, let us know.
Future issues should not only report what HSHS is doing. They should reflect the people who make HSHS what it is.
Thank you for being part of our beginning. We're looking forward to building what comes next with you.
Connect. Learn. Grow. Serve.
Help Shape the Next Issue
Share an accomplishment, submit a story idea, contribute an article, suggest an event, or tell the HSHS team what the community should cover next.
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