National Case Study Competition in Health Education

Registration is now open for the 20th Annual National Case Study Competition in Health Education being held at the SOPHE 2025 Annual Conference from April 15, 2025 (on-site) to April 16, 2025 (online). Graduate and undergraduate health education student teams will compete in presenting a response to a challenging scenario that demonstrates their health education specialist competencies, uses of technology, and emerging methodologies.

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Registration Deadline: March 15, 2025

Guidelines for Participation

Registration

  • Teams register for the competition through the SOPHE conference website. Graduate level teams have 2 students per team. Undergraduate teams typically have 3 students, but can choose to participate with two students.
  • The onsite portion of the competition will take place Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at the SOPHE convention in Long Beach, CA. Note that this is the day BEFORE the convention begins, with a presentation time as early as 9 a.m. Depending on your travel plans this could potentially require arriving Monday evening.
  • The online portion of the competition will take place Wednesday, April 16th, 2025. If the number of teams wishing to participate online is significant, it may be necessary to add Thursday April 17th. Teams registering should be available to present either day.
  • Teams will be assigned a presentation time between 9 a.m.-8 p.m. It is the school’s responsibility to make travel arrangements and be available for the assigned time. Your time assignment will accompany the case materials.
  • Schools may register as many teams as they wish. Complete a separate registration form and payment for each team.

Participation

  • The case and judging criteria will be emailed to the advisor and participants three weeks prior to your team’s presentation date. Advisors are responsible for ensuring participants have the case. ONLY participating team members should receive the case. Please note: it is not possible for the Competition to make accommodations for the academic calendar of every school in the competition, so each school is individually responsible for the case distribution and being present at the assigned time.
  • Advisors and team members presenting virtually will receive a Zoom Videoconferencing invitation in a separate email from the case. Students and advisors should refrain from distributing the code to anyone else to avoid unwanted attendance. Without the code found in the invitation, students will not be able to call in to their assigned presentation time. Student teams should familiarize themselves in advance with the Zoom software to keep the competition running on time.
  • The case resolution should be addressed only by the team members. Teams are on their honor to follow this rule. While all resources can be used by students to address the case, no assistance from classmates, faculty, or advisors is allowed. Remember, a school can register more than one team If additional students want to participate.
  • Each team will have 20 minutes to present their case resolution.
  • Each presentation session consists of the judges, the students presenting, and a site moderator, for a maximum of seven people per presentation group. Based on historical student feedback and to minimize student anxiety, advisors are not in attendance at the presentation, in person or online.
  • If presenting virtually, students must use the video/camera function on their device, so they can be seen during the presentation.
  • All teams will present only one time to the judges.
  • Participants presenting virtually can connect for their presentation using a computer or phone. While it is recommended that students present from a single location as a team, they do not technically need to be located together and could call in from various sites. Students should ensure they are in an appropriate location to speak, hear, and be heard. Locations with significant background noise may not be appropriate. Teams with participants that lose internet connectivity cannot be rescheduled.
  • This is a formal presentation and should be treated with professionalism. While not required, teams wishing to use PowerPoint during the presentation can do so. Onsite participants will have access to a projector but should prepare to use their own computer for the presentation. PowerPoint slide information should be bulleted reference points and not lengthy swaths of information, slides should be plain in nature (no graphics/logos/video/audio), and the number of slides limited to 12.
  • Students should be well versed in their resolution to the case and should not “read” pre-prepared documents, speeches, or slides. Do not read from a PPT to the judges. Using notes for reference during the talk is perfectly acceptable.

Evaluation and Awards

  • Students will be evaluated on their case resolution using the NCHEC Areas of Responsibility for a Certified Health Education Specialist. The Judging Criteria document will accompany the case and summarize these areas.
  • All presentations will be recorded. By registering and participating, students are giving consent to be recorded. The presentations from the top teams in each category may be posted on the event website after the competition.
  • At the completion of all presentations, teams will be awarded a designation of Gold, Silver, or Bronze. This is new to the 2025 competition. One team in the undergraduate competition, and one team in the graduate competition will receive the Best Program Design award.
  • The announcement of Gold level awardees and Best Program Design award will be at the SOPHE awards ceremony. A live All-Call video conference will accompany the presentation so all participants can be “present.”
  • All teams will receive a summary of judge comments following the competition.