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Individual Pre-Health Stories, Atlantis

How Atlantis Prepared Me for Medical School Interviews

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Ally Limmer, a 2015 Atlantis Fellow in Spain, shares her experience on an Atlantis program and how it helped her prepare for med school interviews.

“So, what are your thoughts regarding the status of healthcare in the United States?”

This is the question asked by almost every interviewer with whom I have had the pleasure to interact. I never thought that traveling to Spain to spend a couple of weeks shadowing various specialty areas in a public hospital would give me the perfect answer to this historically-stumping question.

My name is Ally Limmer, and I graduated in the spring of 2016 with a Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology as well as a Bachelors of Arts in Spanish from Rhodes College. I have been hitting medical interviews hard since August and have yet to go through an interview without mentioning my Fellowship experience through Atlantis in Albacete, Spain. Being proficient in Spanish, traveling to Spain had obvious pros in my mind. And intending a future in medicine, shadowing physicians abroad almost had more appeal.

Not only have I made connections with multiple interviewers who happen to be from Europe and even Spain specifically, but I now have the perfect answer to the question that most candidates dread: the healthcare-judgment question.

What continues to amaze me is the practical, useful experience I gained from flying across the Atlantic. Not only have I made connections with multiple interviewers who happen to be from Europe and even Spain specifically, but I now have the perfect answer to the question that most candidates dread: the healthcare-judgment question.

This question is hard both because it deals with a topic that is inherently polarizing between political parties and because it practically asks interviewees to share their opinion.

So is this question a trap? My time in Spain has made it so that I can actually smile when I hear this question since I can now compare the United States’ predicament with the European public health system that is in full swing.

I have seen the pros and the cons first-hand. I have shadowed a plastic surgeon who does zero cosmetic procedures and have watched patients walk in and not be haggled about insurance. I have never once regretted taking that flight.

Cover of the Medical School Admissions Guide.

Two Atlantis alumni admitted to Top 5 MD programs wrote our widely read medical school admissions guidebook guidebook — download yours.

Our Alumni Enter Great Medical Schools

John Daines headshot.

John Daines

  • Atlantis '17
  • Brigham Young University '19
  • Washington U. in St. Louis MD '23
Zoey Petitt headshot.

Zoey Petitt

  • Atlantis '17
  • U. of Arizona '18
  • Duke MD '23
Yong hun Kim headshot.

Yong-hun Kim

  • Atlantis '17
  • Stanford '19
  • Mayo Clinic MD '24
Megan Branson headshot.

Megan Branson

  • Atlantis '18
  • U. of Montana '19
  • U. of Washington MD '24
Sarah Emerick headshot.

Sarah Emerick

  • Atlantis '19
  • Eckerd College '20
  • Indiana U. MD '25
Snow Nwankwo headshot.

Snow Nwankwo

  • Atlantis '19
  • Catholic U. of America '21
  • Georgetown U. MD '26
Tiffany Hu headshot.

Tiffany Hu

  • Atlantis '16
  • U. of Maryland '17
  • U. of Michigan MD '22
Lauren Cox headshot.

Lauren Cox

  • Atlantis '18
  • Louisiana Tech '20
  • U. of Arkansas MD '24
Kayla Riegler headshot.

Kayla Riegler

  • Atlantis '18
  • U. of Kentucky '20
  • U. of Kentucky MD '24

About Atlantis

Atlantis is the leader in pre-health shadowing and clinical experience, offering short-term programs (1-10 weeks) over academic breaks for U.S. pre-health undergraduates. Medical schools want 3 things: (1)healthcare exposure, (2)GPA/MCAT, and (3)certain competencies. Atlantis gives you a great version of (1), frees you to focus on (2), and cultivates/shows (3) to medical school admissions committees.

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Watch Video: The Atlantis Shadowing Experience and How it Helps In Your Med/PA Admissions Future

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Cover of the Medical School Admissions Guide.
Two Atlantis alumni admitted to Top 5 MD programs wrote our widely read medical school admissions guidebook — download yours.