Santa Luzia church in Viana do Castelo, Portugal (an Atlantis site).
Santa Luzia church in Viana do Castelo, Portugal (an Atlantis site).
A view of the streets in the city of Madrid (an Atlantis site)
A view of the streets in the city of Madrid (an Atlantis site)

Spain + Portugal

Viana do Castelo & Madrid

$11,303 - $13,298

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.):
Viana do Castelo
Madrid

Destination Information

The Cities

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.

The Madrid of the Austrians (the old center of Madrid) was built during the reign of the Habsburg Dynasty (1516–1700). The most notable feature of the area is the Plaza Mayor, constructed in 1619. Other unique tourist attractions in the city of Madrid are the Royal Palace, the Retiro Park, and the Temple of Debod, a true Egyptian funerary monument transported and rebuilt stone by stone.

The Region of Madrid is home to three urban enclaves included in the World Heritage List: Alcalá de Henares, with a beautiful historic center and one of the oldest universities in Europe; Aranjuez, with its royal palace and famous gardens; and San Lorenzo de El Escorial, with its Palace and Monastery, where the kings of the houses of Austria and Bourbon are buried.

To the north of Madrid, the Sierra de Guadarrama offers numerous opportunities for nature lovers.

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.

Dates & Availability

  • Summer Break 2024

Dates

Price

Availability

May 25, 2024 - June 21, 2024 4 weeks 1 week in Viana do Castelo
3 weeks in Madrid

$11,303

Full

June 1, 2024 - July 12, 2024 6 weeks 3 weeks in Viana do Castelo
3 weeks in Madrid

$13,298

Full

June 22, 2024 - August 2, 2024 6 weeks 3 weeks in Viana do Castelo
3 weeks in Madrid

$13,298

Close to Full

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Greek ruins on a sunny day.

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

  • 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