The first class of 25 students in a new program in San Rafael will graduate Thursday after exposure to potential careers in heath care.

The free three-week program, dubbed the Future Healers Academy, was taught by instructors at Dominican University of California in a partnership with Sutter Health. It was held at Karma Club, a teen center at the Northgate mall in Terra Linda.

Sally Newson, founder and executive director of Karma Club, said the course had a waiting list of about 40 students from Marin high schools who wanted to make contacts and get information about careers in health care.

“I’m still considering what career I want to take, but this health-care career is definitely an option,” said Sahiti Namburu, 15, a sophomore at Terra Linda High School.

“This program has really helped me to make sure I’m making the correct decision,” she said. “All the classes were very fascinating. It was really interesting to hear what they had to say within all the different careers in health care.”

The university offered about a dozen teachers to the program to cover fields such as occupational therapy, nursing, kinesiology, counseling psychology, physician assistant studies and art therapy psychology.

”Art is a way to express,” Stacey Kamp, a Dominican art therapy instructor and psychotherapist, said at a session on Tuesday. “A lot of times, there are clients who are nonverbal. A lot of teenagers, especially, come in and they just don’t want to talk.”

With those types of clients, Kamp said, “art is a way to get things out, without actually having to write things down or speak it.”

Kamp took the students through an experiential process, telling them to “draw your most difficult emotion.” From there, the students are tasked with naming the emotion and asking questions such as when it first occurred or whether it has any benefits?

“Recognizing that the emotion is there for a reason can actually help people to manage it,” Kamp said.

She also gave the students animal stickers to add to the artwork “to help calm the difficult emotion.”

Jonah Nessel, 18, a senior at Marin Academy in San Rafael, said he was intrigued, particularly when Kamp said that clients’ artwork changed as they processed their emotions.

“She was saying that she sees that as they progress and get better mentally, their artwork actually gets to be a more lighter color,” said Nessel, an intern assisting with the course through Jewish Family and Children’s Services. “I thought that was super interesting as to how your mental state manifests in your artwork.”

On another day, Dominican had the students come to an actual classroom on human physiology to give them a taste of being at a university. The students also got a campus tour.

“Through these experiences, students will gain a broad, practical understanding of the health care and behavioral health sectors and the steps required to pursue a professional career within it,” said Mojgan Behmand, Dominican’s vice president for academic affairs.

Christian Zapata, 17, who recently graduated from Archie Williams High School in San Anselmo, said a talk earlier this week from Kelly Newhouse, chair of the college’s 28-month physician assistant program, solidified his career plans.

“It made me realize that is what I want to do,” Zapata said. “I’ve only heard about it before from my own research, and what I’ve heard from other people, but not from an actual PA.”

He said he will likely take undergraduate prerequisites at College of Marin and then transfer to a four-year university for a bachelor’s degree before applying to a graduate physician assistant school program.

To Belida Diaz, 16, a senior at Marin Academy in San Rafael, the program “has been amazing.”

“I feel like I’ve gained so many different perspectives from so many different professionals,” she said.

Diaz, who was initially geared toward a neuroscience path, said she also was inspired by Newhouse’s description of the physician assistant program.

“I learned that PAs give back to the community,” said Diaz, who lives in the Canal neighborhood of San Rafael. “That’s a really big thing for me. So that was an eye opener.”

Sutter Health supported the program with $25,000 in stipends for the 25 students.

“Sutter Health is committed to building healthier communities, and that includes investing in the next generation of caregivers,” said Bindi Gandhi, Sutter’s community health director. “The Future Healers Academy aligns perfectly with our mission by cultivating curiosity, compassion, and confidence in future health professionals.”

Students also are offered certification classes in basic life support for health-care professionals, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid training.

The graduation ceremony for the program will be held at Dominican.