For our Clinical Shadowing programs, you must be at least 18 years old by the time your program is set to start, and attending or recently graduated from a university in the U.S., Puerto Rico, or Canada. We look for candidates who are professional, mature, and passionate about pursuing a career in healthcare. If you are in high school and at least 16 years old, check out our High School Program for high schoolers interested in medicine.

Though the daily schedule varies by program, most Atlantis students shadow for 5 hours per day, Monday through Thursday, beginning at 8 or 9 am. After shadowing, there is plenty of free time to enjoy, whether at the housing, in the city, or at a group dinner. Fridays are excursion days, and weekends are free to rest, explore the city, or travel!

Department options vary according to availability and program location. Our team always tries their best to assign you according to your department preferences, but we are not able to guarantee that you’ll be able to shadow in your requested specialties. Regardless of department preferences, we encourage you to talk to your Admissions Coordinator about what you hope to get our of your shadowing experience!

We are committed to following the AAMC guidelines for pre-health students in a clinical experience abroad. Because of this, shadowing is observation only, and students are not allowed to have any direct or indirect contact with patients, regardless of a student’s past experiences or certifications.

You are expected to dress in business casual attire with a white lab coat while in the hospital. The white lab coat should be below your waist in length, and it is acceptable to have your name or school insignia on or above the breast pocket. In the case of needing scrubs, your hospital will likely provide them for you. Please refer to the Student Handbook for a more detailed description of business casual expectations.

As an Atlantis student, you will be covered by Atlantis-provided health insurance while abroad. If you get sick, you should immediately inform your Site Manager and seek medical attention from the hospital if necessary. Please know that you will be expected to pay for all treatments and costs out of pocket, but you can submit a claim afterwards to be reimbursed.

Your free time can be used in many ways, including sightseeing, relaxing on a beach or local natural area, exploring your city, resting up after a busy week, traveling, and more. We recommend researching your host country before your program begins to find sites and attractions you might want to visit. Your Site Manager will be a great resource for you while abroad, and they can tell you about the customs and schedules in your host city. During the weekends, you are also free to travel to other cities, or even other countries, if you’ve ensured that you have the correct visa requirements to do so.

Though Atlantis does not provide direct credit, students who wish to obtain course credit can reach out to their academic advisor or internship coordinator to see if an Atlantis program would fulfill any of their coursework requirements. All students receive a Certificate of Completion following the submission of their Post-Program Feedback form, which serves as evidence of the program’s completion. We are also happy to provide any additional documentation required for having your Atlantis program count as a credit-bearing course at your home university.

As a program that unites many aspects of a shadowing or study abroad experience, we emphasize education within the hospital setting, prioritizing shadowing experience and learning “outside of the classroom,” (with the exception of our MCAT programs). Weekly excursions supplement hospital experiences through opportunities for deeper cultural exploration. While we want our students to enjoy their experiences abroad, we also expect each student to bring a readiness to learn and an extreme level of professionalism both inside and outside of the hospital.

Program fees go towards maintaining our staffing, partner development and retention, promotion costs, and administrative costs. The rest covers program costs such as housing, excursions, site staff recruitment and training, travel insurance, liability insurance, meals, excursions, and more.

Yes, you are responsible for securing your own travel to and from your program location. The flight cost to Europe should range from $700 to $1400 from most places in the U.S. or Canada, and our team will give general tips for finding flights to enrolled students. In most cases, flights should not cost more than $1300 round-trip, regardless of program location. We encourage students to research flying from various U.S./Canadian cities and to look at various departure dates, as you may want to take advantage of traveling before or after your program–especially if it will drastically reduce the price of your plane ticket!

Yes, Atlantis has merit-based scholarships that are available to enrolled students, and there is a limited amount of need-based financial aid to applicants. Financial aid is awarded on a case-by-case basis and has a separate application from our standard program application.

You are welcome to travel before and/or after your program, and many students do. However, please know that housing will not be provided before the first day of your program or after the last day of your program. If you do decide to travel beyond your program dates, you will need to make your own travel arrangements.

Naturally, the weather will vary by region and season, so we recommend that you research the climate in your host country for your program dates before you depart. Some things to keep in mind about European seasons: summers are hot and air conditioning is often sparse. On the other hand, while winters may be milder than in parts of the U.S./Canada, that doesn’t mean you won’t need a winter coat. Please bring a winter coat!

Most students will live in hotel or apartment-style housing and will share a room with other students on their program. Please know that housing in Europe tends to be smaller and usually does not have air conditioning. Talk to your Admissions Coordinator for any questions about your specific housing!