Learning Together, Healing Together: RISE Students and Future Doctors Share Stories and Paths Forward
Da Vinci RISE High welcomed medical students from the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine to its A Place Called Home campus in South Los Angeles on Jan. 26 for a morning of collaborative learning, reflection, and career exposure.
RISE Principal Naomi Lara introduced medical students to the Da Vinci RISE model, which prioritizes trauma-informed, relationship-centered learning and includes restorative practices, mastery-based pathways, and comprehensive wraparound supports such as mental health services, legal aid, and basic needs assistance. Principal Lara facilitated a reflection inviting future physicians to consider how educational environments, clinical settings, and broader systems can either compound or interrupt trauma. Participants explored how trauma often shows up as “behavior,” how systems can unintentionally pathologize survival responses, and how interdisciplinary partnerships between schools and healthcare professionals can positively shift outcomes for young people.
As part of the experience, RISE staff shared "micro-practices" that Kaiser medical students can incorporate into their future medical practice to more effectively support youth.
The visit also included RISE students participating in the first-year rollout of Da Vinci’s Career Technical Education (CTE) Health Sciences Pathway. RISE students and Kaiser medical students circled up in small groups to share personal stories about their educational journeys, career aspirations, and life experiences that led them toward health science fields. These conversations created authentic connections and normalized uncertainty as part of professional growth.
Student teams then collaborated in the HealthForce Academy learning portal to design virtual patients that were both clinically accurate and culturally representative. HealthForce Academy—designed and created by Welfie—is an AI-powered learning platform used by Da Vinci CTE students to train the future health workforce through virtual patients, real-time tutoring feedback, real-world applications, and mentor connections. By co-creating new patients, RISE students and Kaiser medical students built peer and mentorship relationships while contributing directly to the platform.
Reflecting on the experience, Dr. Resa Caivano, MD, of the Kaiser School of Medicine shared, “It was great to watch active listening, humility, and co-learning in real life. Seeing the RISE students get as much out of the experience as the medical students was our goal—and a success.”
RISE student Emma, who traveled from the Richstone Family Center RISE High campus to participate, added, “I’m not a big AI person, but I think this platform is really good for people learning about health. It’s nice to talk to older people and hear that not everyone has figured it all out. Hearing their experiences—and that many of them don’t know exactly where they’re headed yet—was refreshing and showed me it’s never too late to figure out what I want to do with my life.”
Da Vinci Schools’ Real World Learning programs are designed to connect students with community partners and create experiences that expand opportunity and possibility. Dr. Emily Green, Director of Da Vinci Health Services, reflected, “It is remarkable to watch future physicians share their stories and have our high school students see themselves in those stories. You could see that students walked in with interest and walked out full of possibility.”
