Our Locations & Dates
Atlantis shadowing programs help improve your future med/PA applications, while letting you experience amazing cultures.
- Select your options based on the filters
- We often fill programs, close them, and open new ones so let us know if you’d like us to keep you updated on program availability.
- Most of our programs are shadowing, but this tool also shows Service-Research Projects, labeled as a “Project,” and programs that include a Harvard Medical School HMX course, labeled as “+HMX.”
Standard Break Options | Possible Advantages of Atlantis Over Each Option |
---|---|
Volunteer in a Low-to-Middle-Income Country (sometimes doing hands-on work with patients, which can result in automatic rejection by med schools) |
Do observation-only shadowing (AAMC compliant), interacting closely with doctors who have jobs more similar to those in the U.S. Add a diverse perspective to your future medical school class, since pre-med international experience in Europe is more rare |
Study abroad in a non-healthcare-related program | Make study abroad a major help for your pre-med path, instead of something that does not contribute directly to your goals |
Work to earn money | Shadow for a few weeks and work the rest of break – keeping in mind how valuable the investment is and the available payment plans you have |
Shadow domestically | Supplement domestic experiences with shadowing in Europe in order to gain depth, breadth, quantity of hours, and intercultural perspective |
Research | Get clinical experience – required by all med/PA schools, whereas research is usually not required. For schools that do not require research, great healthcare exposure beats research, if you have to choose. |
Take this as just one set of reasons. Any option on the left is a fair and reasonable option for certain circumstances. However, we are seeking to equip you with data you can use to make the decision that is best for you.
Keep In Mind
- Language skills are not required
- Alumni went on to 40 of the top 50 medical schools, and also to DO/PA & more
- Atlantis alumni become some of the few Med/PA applicants to have seen universal healthcare systems, and they often bring this up as a conversation in interviews
- Atlantis runs primarily Shadowing, but also Service-Research Projects, or a multi-country combination of Shadowing and/or Projects. Some programs also include a Harvard Medical School HMX course
- Atlantis programs include housing, some meals, excursions, health insurance, and more
- In a PhD-authored study, 93% of a large sample of alumni progressed on the competencies that medical schools use to assess applicants

Consider Programs That Combine Multiple Countries In One Trip
Multi-country programs compound both the short and long-term value of your experience.
