Oakland Unified School District is expanding its healthcare career development opportunities for students, thanks to a major gift from Sutter Health.
The health system announced a $500,000 grant to OUSD in June to strengthen the district’s healthcare pathways, which allow high school students to take courses focused on healthcare, go on related field trips, and get internships in the industry. The funding will also support the district’s growing Highway to Work program, which trains new graduates and helps prepare them for certification exams in three fields: ER technician, certified nursing assistant, and emergency medical technicians.
Earlier this month, Highway to Work’s fifth cohort — 33 students representing most of OUSD’s comprehensive and alternative high schools — celebrated their graduation from the program.
“It is a really, really, challenging time to be in healthcare,” said Dr. Emily Frank, a pediatrician at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, a health teacher in OUSD, and a leader of the program. “People are losing insurance, and confidence in the healthcare system is at an all-time low. Your energy, your compassion and your willingness to learn is exactly what we need in healthcare right now.”
Cristian Bautista, a recent graduate of Castlemont High School, presents an overview of his experience in the CNA pathway. Every graduating student prepared a presentation of their work. Credit: Ximena Natera for The Oaklandside
Recent Oakland high school graduates celebrate the completion of Highway to Work, a nine-week summer certificate program specializing in healthcare careers. Credit: Ximena Natera for The Oaklandside
In California and across the country, job growth in the healthcare field is significantly outpacing other industries and is expected to continue growing. Between March 2022 and March 2026, the total number of jobs in the U.S. grew by 4.7%, compared with nearly 17% growth in healthcare. In California, jobs in healthcare and social assistance grew by 25% during that time period, fast outpacing other sectors, according to a report from the think tank Economic Innovation Group.
For five years, the Highway to Work program has provided opportunities for students who may not be pursuing a four-year degree right away by launching them into well-paying fields in medicine. Graduates of the program go on to earn certification, enroll in community college, or take other routes.
For some, the program just offers time and space to figure out their career path. Belinda Mendez graduated from Fremont High School in 2025 and began the ER tech pathway the day after she graduated. Mendez said she spent last summer doing rotations at San Leandro Hospital, Highland Hospital, and UCSF Children’s Hospital, and then completed an externship at UCSF’s Parnassus campus. Her tasks included taking vitals, doing blood draws, and taking patients to get X-rays or other screenings. Sometimes she would be handling half a dozen patients within two hours. She was able to use her Spanish language skills in assisting patients, which she noticed some other providers lacked.
Working in an ER gave her insights into the provider’s side of the healthcare system, she said.
“As a patient, you get frustrated for the time you have to wait,” Mendez told The Oaklandside. “I think patients don’t really understand what goes on behind the scenes and I really got that perspective.”
Last fall, at the close of the summer program, Mendez applied to City EMT, a San Francisco nonprofit that offers an intensive program to become a certified EMT. But commuting from East Oakland to Mission Bay on public transit took a toll. Most of the other students in her cohort were older and already had associates or bachelor’s degrees, while Mendez was fresh out of high school. The pressure of the program combined with family obligations led her to quit after three months. But Mendez stayed in touch with her OUSD mentors, who encouraged her to try for her certification again.
Nearly a year later, Mendez has completed a five-month program with the Alameda County EMS Corps, passed her national EMT certification test, and is now planning to enlist in the U.S. Navy with the goal of becoming a Navy medic.
“I wouldn’t be at the place that I am now if I hadn’t done the Highway to ER Tech program,” she said. “It was a really good starter for me. It helped me build the future I want.”
Connecting students with helping careers
Mekala Tanner, Vanesa Briseño, and Cristian Bautista are three graduates of OUSD’s Highway to Work class of 2026. Credit: Ximena Natera for The Oaklandside
Cristian Bautista, who graduated from Castlemont High School in May, has long been a caregiver for his 17-year-old sister with cerebral palsy. His experience with caregiving led him to choose the certified nursing assistant pathway, with the hopes of eventually becoming a nurse.
Four days a week, Bautista and the other CNA trainees practiced at nursing facilities and on Wednesdays they had classes at Life Academy in East Oakland.
“It was good taking care of somebody that was in a vulnerable state,” Bautista said. “I learned a lot from the CNAs that have worked [at the facilities], some for five or 10 years, some for even 30 years.”
During the summer, Highway to Work participants take classes to build the clinical skills they’ll need and then do rotations and ridealongs to get real-world experience. On a recent Wednesday, the entire cohort took a health communications course and then performed a role-playing exercise doing a patient intake. They were encouraged to consider situations where a patient may be hard of hearing, may not speak English, or may be experiencing delirium or dementia.
Trevor Brand, the CEO of Sutter Health’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, visited the program during the summer and attended last week’s graduation ceremony.
“I grew up in similar environments as many of the students, and them having the ability to see what’s possible is something I think is incredibly important,” Brand told The Oaklandside. “I want to be here to show them that I support them, that I’ve been where they are, but also that I’d love to be a resource to help them get to wherever their dream is later on.”
An instructor helps students on the ER tech pathway preparing to draw blood during a class at Life Academy in Oakland on June 24, 2026. Credit: Ashley McBride/The Oaklandside
Vanesa Briseño, a recent Rudsdale High School graduate, was part of the ER Tech cohort.
“I thought I wasn’t going to like it, but I ended up loving it,” Briseño told The Oaklandside. “I wanted to do something different from my family.”
Briseño is now pursuing her phlebotomy license and eventually wants to become an ultrasound technician. She plans to enroll at Merritt College this fall.
For Mekala Tanner, the Highway to EMT path was an easy decision. A recent graduate from Oakland Technical High School, Tanner’s dream is to become a firefighter. While participating in Oakland’s youth firefighter academy earlier this year, she learned that applicants need an EMT license, Tanner said. Over the summer, she visited fire stations and participated in ambulance ridealongs as part of the EMT training.
Tanner said a passion for helping others is what drives her.
“My mom always taught me that empathy can take you anywhere,” Tanner told The Oaklandside. “I want to see people happy. I want to make people’s day.”
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