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Piazza della Vittoria in Pavia (an Atlantis site).
Piazza della Vittoria in Pavia (an Atlantis site).
Santa Luzia church in Viana do Castelo, Portugal (an Atlantis site).
Santa Luzia church in Viana do Castelo, Portugal (an Atlantis site).

Italy + Portugal

Pavia & Viana do Castelo

$10,448

Overview

This program is made up of the following consecutive components, and takes place in the order shown (you visit the first city first, etc.):
Pavia
Viana do Castelo

Destination Information

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Local Time Now:

1:16am

Official Languages:

Italian, Portuguese

Almost all alumni have not spoken the local language.

The Cities

Pavia dates back to pre-Roman times and possesses a wealth of important historical sites, including many churches and museums, and a 14th century walled monastery: Certosa di Pavia.

In medieval times, Pavia was known as the “city of a hundred towers.” Although not many of these towers remain, there is still a great deal to enjoy as you explore the narrow streets of the historic center, including numerous churches and pretty small piazzas, the castle, and the cathedral.

In the surroundings of the city, you can take a ride on the coastal or river bike path, or on one of the many marked trails. With beaches of fine golden sand, Viana do Castelo is also popular for surfing, windsurfing or kitesurfing, and bodyboarding. You can also go jet skiing, sailing, rowing, or canoeing on the Lima River.

Viana do Castelo is a perfect place from which to organize a weekend visit to nearby Porto, the famous UNESCO World Heritage City. Nature lovers can also visit the Peneda-Gerês National Park, which features a beautiful landscape and rushing waterfalls, and is the only such park in the country.

What’s Included

Atlantis programs include ~20h/week of shadowing, housing, some meals, transportation, travel health insurance, and more. Airfare is not included but can be very affordable.

What’s Included

On Program Components

  • Approximately 20 hours of AAMC-compliant observation-only shadowing each week, usually in a different department each week
  • In most locations, small groups of 10–15 students
  • Student-doctor ratio of 1:1 or 2:1
  • A small set of our programs are not shadowing-based but rather “Service-Research Projects”, and these substitute the 3 above bullet-point items with a full-time project
  • 1 excursion per week: usually on Fridays + 1 excursion on the Sunday after arrival
  • Housing with rooms separated by gender (with 1–2 roommates or several housemates, depending on housing type)
  • Transportation in and around the city for certain program activities
  • Small daily breakfast, lunch during the excursions, + 2 weekday group dinners per week (including one farewell dinner)
  • Health insurance if traveling abroad: covers certain medical expenses due to accidents and sickness (conditions apply)
  • Staff available to greet and assist students at the recommended arrival airport for each location during a specific window.
  • Atlantis Site Managers in your city will be available when you arrive, assisting during the program, and on-call if any issues arise

Pre/Post Program Components

  • Basic admissions advising by someone experienced with medical school admissions
  • Mentoring session from an incoming top 10 medical school student
  • Guidance for how to leverage your Atlantis experience on “Uniqueness Projects,” giving you the chance to create your own initiative, club, or non-profit to uniquely help connect healthcare professionals between Europe and the U.S.
  • HMX online course for pre-med students, with the potential to earn a certificate from Harvard Medical School upon completion. This course is not-for-credit, and is only available in some of our programs; our cities page clearly identifies programs that include HMX
  • Support for requesting course credit from your university wherever this is possible

Dates & Availability

  • Summer Break 2025

Dates

Price

Availability

June 21, 2025 - August 1, 2025 6 weeks 3 weeks in Pavia
3 weeks in Viana do Castelo

$10,448

Close to Full

You may pay over time, fundraise, consider scholarships, and more. Learn about our significant partial need-based scholarships here.

Financing & Aid
Apply

Participants may transfer to another program or receive a refund up until a predefined amount of time before the start date.

Hospital or Partner Overview

Pavia Overview

Viana do Castelo Overview

Atlantis is an opportunity of a lifetime…The program helped catapult me to a full-tuition (and generous living stipend!) merit scholarship at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine where I currently attend and will graduate with an MD.

Selena Pasadyn headshot.
Selena Pasadyn

Atlantis ‘16

Harvard ‘16, Cleveland Clinic MD ‘21

I believe that highlighting the Atlantis experience significantly bolstered my candidacy and helped lead to numerous eventual [medical school] acceptances I was fortunate enough to receive.

George Bugarinovic headshot.
George Bugarinovic

Atlantis '16

Johns Hopkins '15, Harvard Medical School '20

The Atlantis Fellowship has given me a broader perspective on the field of healthcare. The program has also brought wonderful people into my life.

Elorm Yevudza headshot.
Elorm Yevudza

Atlantis '16

Amherst College '19, Columbia '24

Alumni Outcomes
A flowering tree outside of a building.
A flowering tree outside of a building (Lisbon, Portugal).
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Excursions

Our excursions are designed to offer a deeper look into your host culture, for both the educational benefit and the pure enjoyment of exploring a new place with others who share your interests in travel and medicine. If you happen to make travel plans outside of your city for a weekend, and thus your travel plans conflict with the events your Site Manager has planned, we ask that you notify your Site Manager several days in advance so that they’re able to plan the excursion accordingly. Excursions range from historical tours to culinary and cultural explorations. Your Site Manager will inform you of the different excursions they have planned during your program orientation.

Atlantis students on a program excursion.
Atlantis students on a program excursion (Genoa, Italy).

Clinical Experience that Stands Out to Schools

Medical schools want 3 things: healthcare exposure, GPA/MCAT, and certain competencies. Uniquely, “360 Shadowing” gives you the best version of the 1st, frees you to focus on the 2nd, and cultivates/shows the 3rd to medical school admissions.

What Med/PA Schools Want
Why 360 Shadowing?
Two students walking out of a hospital wing.
Atlantis students in a hospital wing (Lisbon, Portugal).
Students tubing in the ocean in Greece.
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Watch the Atlantis Experience

Language Skills Not Required

Almost all alumni have not spoken the local language. English levels vary within the hospital, but no knowledge of the language is required for Atlantis to be valuable. There is English ability in enough places in the hospital for participants to benefit, as you can read in our testimonials. Moreover, a program in an English-speaking country would take away some of the value of Atlantis, particularly the intercultural perspective that Atlantis participants gain, in a world where many of your future patients in your career later on will not speak your language and will come from a different cultural background. Any possible language barrier you may encounter at Atlantis, even if slight, is also an opportunity to develop “resilience and adaptability,” one of the 15 AAMC core competencies for entering medical students.

Alumni Outcomes

Funding Your Future

The cost of Atlantis isn’t too dissimilar from the cost of many study abroad programs that you may find. And we’re here to help: from our extensive fundraising guide to flexible payment plans and financing options, we make the process simple and easy, allowing you to focus on what really matters.

How Financing Works
An Atlantis student smiling while shadowing abroad.
An Atlantis student on an excursion experiencing culture while shadowing abroad (Athens, Greece).

Hear More Directly From Our Alumni

Hear more from them on their experiences during and after Atlantis.

Alumni Outcomes
An Atlantis student standing outside the hospital where she is shadowing.
An Atlantis student standing outside the hospital where she is shadowing (Barcelona, Spain).

Bring a Friend

Consider bringing a friend to the same program you’re applying to. Although the vast majority of Atlantis alumni have gone on programs without knowing someone in their cohort, bringing a friend allows your experience to be shared in a unique way, while still allowing you one of the benefits of Atlantis: meeting new pre-health friends from across the country. Consider sharing this idea with your friends.

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students walking and smiling.
Atlantis students exploring together on a program excursion (Athens, Greece).

Med School Interview:
Atlantis Alum vs. Typical Pre-med

Compare a possible medical school interview of an Atlantis alum with that of a typical applicant by looking at responses to common questions.

Medical School Interview Impact
Greek ruins on a sunny day.

Gain the Exposure, Stats, and Competencies that Med Schools Want

Take the Quiz: Is It For You?
Speak/Ask An Alum
Receive Updates as New Programs Open/Close
  • The vast majority of alumni accepted into med/PA school said Atlantis “strongly” or “very strongly” impacted their admittance
  • 81% of alumni accepted into med/PA school said Atlantis impacted their passion for medicine
  • 93% of our pre-health alumni progressed on the AAMC Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students