Pre-Health Shadowing
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What Med Schools Want
Atlantis gives you the best quality and quantity of shadowing, so you can cut back elsewhere and focus on what interviewers really care about. Med/PA schools will care about what’s unique: your clinical experience, your rare ability to focus on grades/MCAT – and most of all – your stories from shadowing abroad.
Programs run for 1–10 weeks during academic breaks in multiple European cities. Open to all pre-health students (18+) attending college or recently graduated. Beat the rush and apply today!
Compared to typical pre-health clinical experiences, Atlantis shadowing provides far greater depth, breadth, and quantity: more meaningful observation, more specialties, and more hours. It also offers an intercultural perspective. And these are the four qualities medical schools value in any healthcare experience.
Most pre-health students wish they had more time to study. Atlantis shadowing accomplishes so much extracurricular-wise during your summer that you can cut activities (and focus on your grades) during your semesters.
Med/PA schools systematically look for certain traits such as resilience, adaptability, cultural competence, social skills, etc. Atlantis shadowing uniquely helps you refine and showcase many of these, creating powerful stories for your future applications and interviews.
Hungary ’17 || University of Arizona (undergraduate) ’18
Hungary, Summer 2017
I believe it was very helpful.
For me, my Atlantis experience played a key role in confirming my decision to go into medicine. This was important for me to discuss during the admissions process.
Yes
Budapest, Hungary ’17 || Stanford University
Budapest, Hungary – Winter 2017
Stanford University class of 2019
Computer Science
Bio-X Grant (award for research)
President and Founder of Stanford Undergraduate Hospice and Palliative Care, Volunteer for Pacific Free Clinic, Research Assistant in Wernig Pathology Lab, President of Hong Kong Student Association, violin performance
Eye-opening. Spontaneous. Exhilarating.
I chose the Atlantis program because it combines opportunities to shadow physicians and travel abroad, both of which I had little prior exposure to.
My favorite experience as an Atlantis participant came in the stories exchanged over meals or excursions and the breadth of conversation that reflected the diversity of backgrounds within our cohort and site managers.
I appreciated the chance to speak with physicians in Budapest and hear their personal motivations for pursuing medicine because it really helped better contextualize and validate my own interest in medicine. The physicians were also just really welcoming, relatable, and down-to-earth people.
The Atlantis program has equipped me with a better understanding of what a career in medicine looks like, which I think is an invaluable gift considering the long road ahead of those who aspire to be a physician.
The ability to interact and empathize with patients of diverse backgrounds and communities is a necessity to be a leader in the medical field. I think the Atlantis program, through my interactions with mentors and their patients, has helped me take my first steps toward attaining the cultural vocabulary and literacy required of a physician.
Tereul, Spain ’16 || U Michigan Medical School
Teruel, Spain – Summer 2016
University of Maryland class of 2017
University of Michigan Medical School
Neurobiology
Honors Integrated Life Sciences Program, Banneker/Key Scholarship
American Medical Student Association Co-President & Advocacy Day Liaison, Alternative Breaks Experience Leader, Health Professions Advising Office Student Advisory Board, Biology Teach Assistant, Health Leads, Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, NIH Research Intern, Physicians for Social Responsibility Environment & Health Intern
Educational. Eye-opening. Exhilarating.
I wanted to expand my horizons and understand a culture of health different from the ones I am accustomed to. I had shadowed doctors in the United States and Taiwan prior to my Atlantis program experience, and being able to see first-hand the healthcare system in Spain allowed me to draw comparisons between the different complex healthcare systems.
Bonding with the other participants and celebrating our time together along with the doctors we shadowed. We would discuss our interests, passions, and motivation for medicine, and it was an incredible experience to learn from and alongside them.
Because of the pre-established relationships with the hospitals in which we shadowed, all the doctors were very welcoming and accommodating. They were willing to translate for us and explain in detail all of their medical decisions. My doctors and I had wonderful conversations about the differences between life in Spain vs. the United States.
I was excited to scrub in on surgeries and watch as the doctor explained what he was doing throughout the operation. Before and after surgeries, as well as in my other rotations, I observed how the doctors reassured and communicated with their patients. I was able to glean insight into differences between the experience of health in Spain versus the United States through observation as well as conversations with the doctors.
Besides the wealth of medical knowledge I gained from shadowing the doctors, I challenged myself to step outside of my cultural comfort zone and explore more than I thought I was capable of. Atlantis allowed me to make connections with people from all around the United States and abroad, and the friendships I gained helped me learn so much more than I would have on my own.
Libson, Portugal ’18 || Louisiana Tech
Lisbon, Portugal
Fall ’17 – Summer ’18
Summer
Extremely helpful
It exposed me to shadowing that was hard to come by in the states. It also gave me a chance to see other systems of healthcare.
Yes – they wanted to know about my experience, and specifically how the healthcare I saw in another country compared to what I had seen in the USA.
We offer single and multi-country programs, taking place for a few weeks over breaks, in several countries.
Italy
1-3 Weeks
Rome is the capital and the largest city in Italy. It is one of the most ancient cities in the world – beautiful, and full of history and culture. Known as the Eternal City, Rome is one of the birthplaces of Western civilization and has accrued about 2,500 years of history since its founding in 753 BC. The historical center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and offers many locations to see, including Vatican City, an independent country, and the only country to be geographically situated within a city.
Greece
1-3 Weeks
The largest city in Greece, Athens has long been the heart of this beautiful country. An empire and powerful civilization built over centuries, Athens has served as a cultural beacon throughout Europe and the world. With an extensive history that began in the Neolithic age, the spectacular monuments found there still stand as a testament to ancient times.
Spain
3 Weeks
Located in the Mediterranean Sea, east of mainland Spain, Mallorca is the largest of the Balearic Islands. This island is rich in history and has signs of habitation from 6,000 BC.
Portugal
2-3 Weeks
Lisbon is the capital city of Portugal. Located on the Atlantic Ocean and the Tagus River, Lisbon is not only the capital of Portugal but is also considered one of the most global cities due to its rich cultural, economic, and trade history. Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in Europe, and its deep history is evident in its intricate architecture, wealth of artistic treasures, and abundance of scenic neighborhoods.
Italy
3 Weeks
Milan is a global hub for the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, research, and last but not least, healthcare.
Italy
3 Weeks
Pavia is a mid-sized city, about 30 miles south of Milan, in the southern part of the Lombardy region – that is to say, deep in the heart of northern Italy’s rice-growing territory. This city has a lively cultural life, and a wide variety of delicious, traditional Italian food.
We’ve built our highly acclaimed “Shadowing and Extracurricular Readiness Score” calculator to allow you to look at advice statements from pre-med experts and see to what extent you follow them.
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