Frequently Asked Questions

When it comes to shadowing opportunities, quality and quantity can vary significantly, and it’s hard to know what to expect. At Atlantis, we have a unique, time-tested approach called 360 Shadowing, characterized by greater depth, breadth, quantity of hours, and intercultural perspective. Read more here: Why 360 Shadowing?

For our regular programs, you must be at least 18 years old by the time your program is set to start, and attending or recently graduated from college. If you are an international student, you are responsible for researching and acquiring any travel documents you may need in order to travel to your program destination(s). We also run a small number of high school programs for people under 18 years old, and those programs are listed in a separate part of our site.

Applications remain open throughout the year; however, as you surely have noted, most of our programs are composed of small groups, which is the reason we constantly fill programs and open new ones.

Our team chooses locations in a varied set of contexts. We know many pre-health students are unable to study abroad due to course requirements. Atlantis allows students to combine the joys of travel abroad with the invaluable experience of shadowing in another advanced healthcare system.

Breadth of exposure to different medical specialities is something that medical schools value. It can play a large role in interview performance. Department options vary according to availability and program location; our team always tries their best to assign you according to your department preferences. Although we are not able to guarantee that you’ll be able to shadow in your requested specialties, most students receive most of their preferences. Regardless of department preferences, we encourage you to talk with us about what you hope to get out of your shadowing experience! Below is a sample rotation schedule:

Almost all Atlantis alumni have not spoken the local language. Most doctors in most places speak enough English for the language barrier to not hinder the experience. When there is a language barrier, such barrier will push most students out of their comfort zone, which fosters resilience & adaptability (AAMC competency #8). Moreover, such limited language barrier experiences will be nothing compared with what many of our students’ post-medical-school patients in the U.S. (e.g. immigrants) will experience. Overcoming the any limited language barrier issues is crucial for building your cultural competence (AAMC competency #3), being able to relate to your future patients, growing in oral communication skills (AAMC competency #5), and also having compelling stories for your applications and interviews.

See our cities and programs page for that information.

Read more here: How It Works > What’s Included.

We believe everyone on track to med/PA school can find a way to afford Atlantis. It just takes drive and the initiative to make it work. We’re here to help. You have multiple options for how to cover the cost of your Atlantis program: scholarships and vocation-driven fundraising. Read more here: Financing & Aid.

When it comes to shadowing opportunities, quality and quantity can vary significantly, and it’s hard to know what to expect. At Atlantis, we have a unique, time-tested approach called 360 Shadowing, characterized by greater depth, breadth, quantity of hours, and intercultural perspective. Read more here: Why 360 Shadowing?

We are committed to following the AAMC guidelines for pre-health students in a clinical experience abroad. Because of this, shadowing is observation-only, and students are not allowed to have physical contact with patients or to perform healthcare, regardless of a student’s past experiences or certifications. The vast majority of pre-health advisors recommend Atlantis to students in part because of our commitment here. Performing healthcare when you’re not trained for it would hurt your medical school admissions chances, could hurt patients, and could be unethical. Atlantis programs keep all of this in mind.

After visiting a few of the sites, and speaking with students, administrators, and participating physicians, I’m very comfortable recommending Atlantis to our students. They are very aware of, and follow, ethical guidelines, which is important for any program our students may choose to go on. It’s a flexible, mutually beneficial way for students to get shadowing experience at the same time as learning about a healthcare system different from their own.

Though the daily schedule varies by program, most Atlantis students shadow for 5 hours per day, Monday through Thursday, beginning at 8 or 9 am. After shadowing, there is plenty of free time to enjoy, whether at the housing, in the city, or at a group dinner. Fridays are excursion days, and weekends are free to rest, explore the city, or travel. Read more here: How It Works > Day in the Life.

Breadth of exposure to different medical specialities is something that medical schools value. It can play a large role in interview performance. Department options vary according to availability and program location; our team always tries their best to assign you according to your department preferences. Although we are not able to guarantee that you’ll be able to shadow in your requested specialties, most students receive most of their preferences. Regardless of department preferences, we encourage you to talk with us about what you hope to get out of your shadowing experience! Below is a sample rotation schedule:

Almost all Atlantis alumni have not spoken the local language. Most doctors in most places speak enough English for the language barrier to not hinder the experience. When there is a language barrier, such barrier will push most students out of their comfort zone, which fosters resilience & adaptability (AAMC competency #8). Moreover, such limited language barrier experiences will be nothing compared with what many of our students’ post-medical-school patients in the U.S. (e.g. immigrants) will experience. Overcoming the any limited language barrier issues is crucial for building your cultural competence (AAMC competency #3), being able to relate to your future patients, growing in oral communication skills (AAMC competency #5), and also having compelling stories for your applications and interviews.

To make the most of your shadowing experience, you’ll want to pay special attention to the information you receive pre-departure and during your hospital orientation. Ask for recommendations from your site manager about how to optimize your time with the doctors. Proactive communication, taking notes (when allowed), and putting on a friendly smile go a long way. Also be sure to check out our library of helpful PDFs and resources.

Atlantis is the U.S. leader in pre-health education abroad, sending more pre-health students abroad than all the leading study abroad organizations. (These organizations are generalists, i.e., they work in many fields.) We’ve been running programs for almost 15 years, almost exclusively pre-health study abroad, and we are learning more every day. When it comes to immersing students in the world of medicine and preparing them for med/PA school, we have more experience than any other entity in our field, even though many organizations have been around for much longer than we have. Still, be sure to check out what offerings are available from generalist study abroad providers, and see if ours is the best fit for you. Keep in mind that our alumni have been successful in being admitted to medical school and other graduate schools in part because of the impact of Atlantis in their learning, applications, and medical school interviews (or those of other graduate programs). That said, only you will know what’s best for your particular case.

We recommend reading the advice of top universities’ health professions advising offices (cf. Princeton’s Pre-Health Prep: Study Abroad). Study abroad is encouraged, but sometimes, logistically, it can interfere with prerequisites if done during the semester, and if you’re able to get an internship or clinical experience over breaks, then your time might be better spent on that. All Atlantis programs run during breaks, and you can still pursue other opportunities during the rest of your breaks. Essentially, Atlantis allows you to kill two birds with one stone by doing focused hospital shadowing (higher-quality than most clinical experience) while doing study abroad.

Better, Concentrated Healthcare Exposure Lets Pre-Meds Focus on Grades, While Still Increasing Relevant Experience for Interviews

Our approach is different from most programs for a few reasons. Universities have to approve credit anyway in order for it to count, so we spend our efforts maximizing the educational value of our programs rather than managing the administrative work of issuing credit. This allows us to keep costs lower than they would be otherwise, and to offer more flexible dates and options that fit with other summer opportunities. It’s also worth noting that most of our alumni do not request credit for Atlantis from their university, generally having enough credits from their classes already – it’s often not worth the extra expense for them. If you do require credit, you can often request it from your university; please check out: Support for Requesting Course Credit.

Most of our alumni do not request credit for Atlantis from their university, because the healthcare exposure is so valuable to med/PA school admissions on its own, and because students generally have enough credits from their classes already. However, most of those who do need the credit are successful at requesting it, and Atlantis is more than happy to assist. Read more here: Support for Requesting Course Credit.

A lot of clinical experiences abroad are indeed harmful if they involve breaking AAMC ethical guidelines about not practicing medicine without training, which then jeopardizes students’ chances of admission to med/PA school. This is often (but not always) the case when doing clinical experiences in low-resource countries such as those in Latin America (whereas our focus is Europe). When you shadow with Atlantis, however, you are strictly observing procedures. Read more here: How It Works.

Yes, Atlantis is designed for American undergraduate students who plan to enter med/PA schools here in the U.S. and later practice here as well. Ideally, Atlantis complements rather than replaces U.S. shadowing. It’s worth the experience to shadow (and do other forms of clinical experience) domestically, however, our alumni consistently report that here in the U.S. they were exposed to less complex procedures (less depth), saw far fewer specialties and far fewer doctors (less breadth), struggled to get a large number of hours at once (less quantity), and finally, didn’t experience the intercultural dimension nearly as strongly as they did by going abroad. Atlantis’ quality of shadowing also helps remove pressure to do time-consuming extracurriculars and focus instead on grades (one of the biggest pain points for busy pre-health students), and also allows students to refine and highlight AAMC competencies both in applications and interviews. Read more here: Why 360 Shadowing?

For the most part, med/PA admissions is, in fact, predictable – even if it isn’t perfectly objective, it does follow some well-known rules. To see this for yourself, consult your pre-health advisor or the health professions advising websites of elite schools (cf. Princeton’s Health Professions Advising resources). Though it’s worth consulting many sources, we usually recommend pre-health advisors over med/PA schools, since advisors are not biased towards maximizing the number of applicants (which helps med/PA schools increase their rankings). If you read many of these advisor websites, you’ll realize there’s a core consensus. Here’s the consensus from pre-health advising websites at elite schools (which is relevant for every pre-med regardless of school): med/PA admissions want three things, 1) healthcare exposure, 2) GPA/MCAT, and 3) certain competencies. 360 Shadowing with Atlantis facilitates all three. Read more here: What Do Med/PA Schools Want?

It’s hard to say you can have too many high-quality shadowing hours – it would have to be because they were taking away from other, more important things. 360 Shadowing gives you all the benefits of shadowing (honing your interests, helping you get into med school, deepening your love of medicine, etc.), while also making space to cut out other activities and focus on academics. It’s not only more efficient in terms of more hours concentrated during breaks, it’s also much higher quality: the hospital exposure is deeper and broader, and you gain an intercultural perspective that sets you apart from the vast majority of applicants. Read more here: Greater Depth, Breadth, Quantity, and Intercultural Perspective.

So many ways! To start, Atlantis helps you answer the question: why have you chosen to study medicine? You’ll be writing from a unique perspective, with an even greater enthusiasm for medicine. The time you spent observing doctors abroad, taking note of differences in healthcare, seeing the ins and outs of multiple departments, watching important surgeries, and stepping outside your comfort zone – all of that will furnish ample material for your essays and interviews. Here in our website you can read more concretely about Atlantis’ impact on the interviews and on the application itself. Here are some advantages you may have from a medical school (or similar) admissions perspective, as an Atlantis alum (these are some of the reasons many of our alumni have been successful at medical school admissions and other healthcare graduate school applications):

• Other candidates have done some shadowing; you have done lots.
• Other candidates have seen healthcare in one country, you in two or more.
• Other candidates have seen three specialties; you may have seen seven or eight.
• Other candidates might have shadowed two or three doctors; you might have shadowed ten or fifteen.
• Other candidates say they see medicine as service; you have actually spent time with doctors in countries where medical salaries are relatively lower, and where service is a stronger motivator behind the healthcare profession.
• Other candidates say they have an intercultural perspective in healthcare because they shadowed in a diverse U.S. setting (e.g. inner-city or rural); you may have a deeper intercultural perspective because you shadowed in a different country (which, unlike the diverse U.S. setting, has far more cultural differences relative to what you’re used to).
• Other candidates say they are passionate about policies for affordable care; you have seen what a more government-run healthcare looks like and can speak maturely about its many pros and cons.
• Other candidates can speculate on what it’s like to be a surgeon; you have seen several surgeries.

Read more here: Comparing an Atlantis alum with a regular pre-med in a med school interview.

It’s a simple but sometimes hard truth: trying to do everything is a losing game. As you know, only 3 things really matter to get into medical school: healthcare exposure, stats (GPA/MCAT), and demonstrating the 15 AAMC competencies in your applications and interviews. Atlantis promotes all three pillars, so you can cut out some extracurriculars and focus on what matters. 360 Shadowing gives you healthcare exposure (#1), which also contributes to many competencies (#3). This then allows all your energy to be spent on studies during the year (#2), which contributes to the other AAMC competencies tied to coursework (e.g. scientific inquiry, living systems, etc.). This is one of the reasons our alumni have been successful at being admitted to medical school and other graduate programs.

 

Bottom line: if you’re going to do an activity outside of the classroom, make sure it really is worth the cost in grades that it will bring. We have met hundreds of pre-health advisors who wish students would prioritize grades more – be sure to consult your advisor about how to prioritize, and don’t forget to ask him or her about Atlantis. More than 1 out of 10 advisors have seen our programs, and the other 9 will know another advisor who has.

Better, Concentrated Healthcare Exposure Lets Pre-Meds Focus on Grades, While Still Increasing Relevant Experience for Interviews

The ideal is to have a well-rounded set of clinical experiences. In an ideal world, you would do 360 Shadowing with Atlantis and supplement it with other types of shadowing and clinical experience domestically. Find whichever experiences offer the most depth, breadth, quantity of hours, and intercultural perspective. Also remember that while having consistency is valuable, it is less important than having sufficient shadowing and good stats (GPA and MCAT score), which Atlantis helps with. No matter how good the opportunity, you should always consider the impact on your academics. Our alumni have been very successful at being admitted to medical schools and other healthcare programs because they’ve been able to balance everything. They also brought unique strengths to their medical school applications and interviews. We encourage you to consult with your pre-health advisor about how to prioritize, and be sure to ask him or her about Atlantis since more than 1 out of 10 advisors has seen our programs and the other 9 will know another advisor who has.

It’s true, internships or similar projects with leading healthcare institutions are extremely rare, even for undergraduates attending top schools. Atlantis will change that and make it a bit less uncommon! We’ve proved that such programs can be designed in such a way that students do learn while contributing meaningfully to the host healthcare organization (and being exposed to it). The work you do as an Atlantis Service-Research Project participant gives you hands-on experience with an elite healthcare institution. It’s the perfect complement to shadowing and a major differentiator as you apply to programs.

For our regular programs, you must be at least 18 years old by the time your program is set to start, and attending or recently graduated from college. If you are an international student, you are responsible for researching and acquiring any travel documents you may need in order to travel to your program destination(s). We also run a small number of high school programs for people under 18 years old, and those programs are listed in a separate part of our site.

Atlantis offers  programs for high school students as well as undergrads. Read more here: High School.

The application process is the same for shadowing and Service-Research Project programs. Once accepted, your acceptance extends to all Atlantis programs.

Applications remain open throughout the year; however, as you surely have noted, most of our programs are composed of small groups, which is the reason we constantly fill programs and open new ones.

On average, the application process takes 1–4 weeks. The time it takes to advance through the process depends on the volume of applications at that particular time, which varies throughout the year. If your program of choice is starting soon, your application will be expedited. Otherwise, our team reviews applications in order of submission.

No matter where you attend school, we’re here to help jumpstart your future in healthcare! The criteria for joining Atlantis are a genuine passion for healthcare, commitment to excellence, and professionalism. We are proud of the fact that our students come from a diverse set of educational backgrounds (hundreds of U.S. universities), ranging from incoming college freshmen to recent graduates and master’s students. They often do end up at great medical schools and other healthcare programs after Atlantis.

It’s perfectly acceptable not to know your healthcare path yet! Shadowing is especially valuable for helping you discern where your talents and interests really lie. Atlantis alumni go on to pursue MD, DO, PA, Nursing, PT, OT, Pharmacy, and many other health professions. Read more here: Pre-health, not pre-med?

Our team chooses locations in a varied set of contexts. We know many pre-health students are unable to study abroad due to course requirements. Atlantis allows students to combine the joys of travel abroad with the invaluable experience of shadowing in another advanced healthcare system.

That’s alright! Ultimately, you’re bound to have a life-changing experience – don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone (“resilience and adaptability” is a AAMC competency anyway) . Start by reading through the individual pages for different cities. Those will give you a snapshot of must-see sites, the hospital experience, and highlights from our alumni. Feel free to schedule a call with an alum as well.

Please see our contact us page.

Check out our Helpful PDFs page! Here you will find several documents to help you learn more about Atlantis programs, navigate through med/PA school admissions, and support your pre-health journey.

Flights cost less than you might expect. In fact, students who search smartly can usually find flights for under $800 total. That might not be the first price you see on the first search you do, and it depends on where you’re flying to and from. We encourage students to research flying from various U.S./Canadian cities and to look at various departure dates, as you may want to take advantage of traveling before or after your program – especially if it will drastically reduce the price of your plane ticket. Check out our flight tips for some helpful advice!

You are welcome to travel before and/or after your program on your own. However, please note that housing will unfortunately not be provided before the first day of your program or after the last day of your program. If you do decide to travel beyond your program dates, you will need to make your own travel arrangements. Please note that the health insurance provided by Atlantis will only be in effect during the program itself.

Naturally, the weather will vary by region and season, so we recommend that you research the climate in your host country for your program dates before you depart. Some things to keep in mind about European seasons: summers are hot and air conditioning is less common than it is in the U.S.. On the other hand, while winters may be milder than in parts of the U.S./Canada, that doesn’t mean you won’t need a winter coat. Please bring a winter coat if your program is during the winter months.

We provide local housing, with rooms separated by gender (students have 1–2 roommates or several housemates, depending on the type of housing). Typically, students are in basic student residences or apartments relatively close to the city center (generally 30 to 45 minutes’ commute from their hospital or site), with one bathroom per 2–4 students. Please know that housing in Europe tends to be smaller and often does not have air conditioning (at least compared with the U.S.).

You are expected to dress in business casual attire with a white lab coat while in the hospital. The white lab coat should be below your waist in length, and it is usually acceptable (but not required) to have your name or school insignia on or above the breast pocket. In the case of needing scrubs, your hospital will likely provide them for you.

Your free time can be used in many ways, including sightseeing, relaxing on a beach or local natural area, exploring your city, resting up after a busy week, traveling, and more. We recommend researching your host country before your program begins to find sites and attractions you might want to visit. Your Site Manager will be a great resource for you while abroad, and they can tell you about the customs and schedules in your host city. During the weekends, you are also free to travel to other cities, or even other countries, if you’ve ensured that you have the correct visa requirements to do so. Note that you’ll be on your own during these outings, and we encourage you to behave safely in your travels. Keep in mind you do not have to travel outside of your main city in order to have a great experience.

As an Atlantis student, you will be covered for applicable health issues by Atlantis-provided health insurance while abroad (conditions apply). If you get sick, you should inform your Site Manager and seek medical attention from the hospital if necessary. In emergencies, you should seek to get to an emergency room ASAP. Please know that local healthcare facilities generally expect you to pay for all treatments and costs out of pocket (at rates far lower than the U.S., usually), but you can submit a claim afterwards to be reimbursed by the insurer.

See our cities and programs page for that information.

Program fees go towards maintaining our staffing, partner development and retention, promotion costs, and administrative costs. The rest covers program costs such as housing, excursions, site staff recruitment and training, travel insurance, meals, excursions, and more.

See this information on this page: How It Works > What’s Included.

We believe everyone on track to med/PA school can afford Atlantis. It just takes drive and the initiative to make it work. We’re here to help. You have multiple options for how to cover the cost of your Atlantis program: scholarships and fundraising. Read more here: Financing & Aid.

Atlantis is committed to ensuring equitable access to programs as much as possible. We do this through flexible payment plans and multiple forms of financial aid. Just as importantly, we are committed to ensuring that our programs provide the highest return on investment (ROI) in our alumni’s entire educational path. An Atlantis program costs a small fraction of the cost of college and graduate/professional school, and is proven to help with med/PA school admissions while strongly impacting students’ passion for medicine as a vocation. We know that in the years from high school to medical residency, students often encounter programs with a steep cost: off-topic study abroad programs, undergraduate degrees with inflated costs, remedial masters programs, expensive post-bac options, etc. There’s certainly a place for all of these options in the ecosystem, but Atlantis strives to offer the highest single return on investment of any of these opportunities between high school and residency.

Atlantis Costs Little in Comparison with Other Elements

See the relevant section within this page.

See the relevant section within this page.

Yes, we permit others to pay on your behalf.

• If paying Atlantis directly, they can set up their own account (using our processing partner), or, you can create an account and have them add their payment method to your account. Either way, they need to make sure their payment includes your full name in the “Student Name” field of the payment form. By default, receipts are sent to the email address of the individual who made the payment. If you need a copy of the receipt, please submit a request to our Post Enrollment team.
• If paying with Uplift, they can fill out the quick loan application and pay.

If you study in the U.S., we require you to pay from a U.S. bank account if you are not paying by card.

Generally, two days before you are billed, you will receive an email notification of the upcoming payment. Atlantis unfortunately cannot be liable for any overdraft fees that may be added to your account.

In the rare event of a mistaken payment, we are generally able to edit payment information if contacted within 12 hours of payment.

You can update your payment method at any time by logging into your payment account.

Our deadlines are important so as to ensure our programs are planned on time. Please contact the Post Enrollment team if you have questions about this.

Students who do not remain in contact with us about payments would be withdrawn from the program.

Generally we are not able to grant extensions. Please let our Post Enrollment team know if you have any questions.

Yes, please reach out to our Post Enrollment team via email, and they can provide you a copy of your Certificate of Completion.

This depends on the request. Our Post Enrollment team is happy to be a point of reference for your applications, simply to verify the dates of your program. However, if you are seeking an actual letter of recommendation, please send your request directly to the person you want to write you a letter, being sure that you know them well enough to ask. Asking letters from someone who doesn’t know you well is usually not a good strategy, so consider carefully whom to ask for one.

Please check out this page and consider how it may be relevant in your own particular case.