Internships in Athens, Greece

Hi, my name is Monica and I am from Florida. I currently go to school at Florida Larkin University and hope to be a veterinarian one day. I chose this program because I love travelling and I hadn’t been to Greece before, so I wanted to experience Greece and all that it had to offer. I also love animals, so this program has taught me lots of skills and the experience of communicating with people even though I don’t speak Greek. The doctors here are very nice and always translate things for me and help me understand what’s going on and why they are treating those animals in certain ways. I also want to say how amazing the Cerca Abroad company is for helping me through all these experiences and finding different things to do while in Athens and exploring the culture and sightseeing and everything.

Hi, my name is Paula, I am from Chile and I study in the US. I study Neuroscience. I chose the medical internship because I wanted to go to medical school and become a surgeon, so it was very interesting to see orthopedic surgeons at work and get a hands-on experience too. Some of the interesting things that I saw were a knee replacement and an Achilles tendon surgery. Coordination was really good, everyone was really nice and life in Athens is amazing, the food is great, and the people are really nice.

Hello, my name is Laura, I am from Virginia and attend the Virginia Military Institute. I wanted to come to this program because I am interested in being a surgeon and here at this hospital, I am allowed to explore all the different specialties I would want to go into. Being in Greece I got to see the beautiful city of Athens and travel around. I got to see some of the islands. So, an overall great experience, just getting to see surgeries and travel. I would like to thank Cerca for having such a wonderful program.

Hi, my name is Megan, I am from Kentucky and attend Morehead State University. I chose this program because I wanted to pursue a career in the medical field and I thought Greece is an amazing place that I’ve always wanted to see, so why not see some of it here. I’ve loved my experience at the hospital, especially in general surgery, and getting to see different surgeries that I never would have seen—especially when I shadowed a neurologist. Everyone here is so helpful and explains everything really well and works with me through the language barrier. Athens itself is a beautiful city. I enjoyed getting to see the Parthenon at the Acropolis, the museums, and all the ancient ruins. The coordinators are so helpful and they are there for you no matter what you need. It was an amazing experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything else. I definitely recommend it to others.

Hi, my name is Michael and I am a Canadian student coming from the University of British Columbia. I chose to do this internship because my goal is to become a doctor. When I first came I wanted to be a cardiologist, but after spending some time here I realized I am more interested in Neurosurgery. Athens is a beautiful place and I have had a lot of travelling and experiences and I got to do and see so many things. The food here is like none other. I got to see a lot of Greek islands and it has been absolutely beautiful. I would recommend this program to anyone. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for sure. The people from Cerca were awesome; they would take care of everything including the housing and transport. They were very easy to work with and made me feel safe and comfortable the whole time. I will be forever grateful.

Hi. My name is Sophia and I am from Arizona. I chose a medical internship to explore different possibilities in the medical field and to kind of shadow and gain experience in a hospital. Something very exciting here was looking at different specialties. My favourite was Orthopedics, which was the highlight of this trip. The coordination was really good. It was very easy getting around. It was all very simple. Athens was gorgeous, it’s a very interesting place, so I would come back.

Hi, my name is Taylor, I am from Connecticut, I go to Colgate University in upstate New York. I chose to do this program to become a physician in the future. My experience with Athens so far has been wonderful. The people are incredibly friendly and even help you explore the city. My experience with Cerca has also been wonderful. They were even super helpful throughout the city, the hospital, and with the doctors here.

Hello, my name is Tayyibah and I am from the University of Bradford, I am twenty years old. I chose the medical program for the experience because I wanted to take a look at something different overall and the medical placement was a good experience for me. The people and the doctors were nice and helpful. Overall, I believe that I’ve had a great experience. The staff are helpful, nice and kind. So, during my medical placement I’ve seen a lot of different surgeries. Medically, it was a different experience for me overall. Athens itself is a beautiful city. The people are nice and helpful and there are a lot of tourist attractions as well.

Hi, my name is Reece, I am from the University of Newcastle, Australia. I am in my second year of studying Psychology and I chose to study abroad because I really wanted to see what it was like studying in a different culture and also for some personal and professional experience. I really enjoyed studying here with Cerca Abroad in the Iasis Centre, because it has given me such a good example of group therapy and it’s given me motivation to work in group therapy one day.

Hi, my name is Sophie, I am from Washington, U.S., and I go to Washington State University. I chose to do this internship because I wanted to have a hands-on experience in the area of medicine and I just wanted to see how it works in another country. I got to see some really cool surgeries and I also saw some interesting work with stray animals. I am very happy with the coordination of this internship by Cerca Abroad, they would always answer questions, there was always someone to answer them, there was a lot of support. I really enjoyed my stay in Thessaloniki, it was really fun to see some very cool restaurants and also go to the beaches and there were things to see outside.

Hi, my name is Eesha and I come from San Diego, California, in the United States. I decided to join this Greek medical program just to explore other specialties in medicine and figure out which would interest me the most. One of my highlights was scrubbing into a carpal tunnel surgery, which in America I would never have been able to do for another five or six years, so that was really cool. The coordination was super easy, and they were able to send taxi and information responses quite fast. My favorite thing about Athens is the food and shopping.

Hello, I am Ashley, I am from Kansas City, Kansas, at Kansas State University for my undergraduate. I decided to go through this program to get more experience with small animals because at Kansas State I do a lot of agricultural and environment animals and this just gave me the chance to experience working with small animals, what this is all about. I’ve had a lot of good experiences here, I’ve been able to see a lot of surgeries and physical exams on animals and see in a lot of different animals what’s normal and abnormal. The vets here have been really nice, they’re really good about making sure I know what’s going on. Here in Athens it’s been great. Even during the winter time for me it’s pretty warm and not that difficult to walk around and just see the sights because just by walking around you can get to see a lot of things. Cerca Abroad has been really good about making sure I was comfortable wherever I was going, from providing the apartment to the vet clinic and how to get there and everything. So, it’s been a good overall experience.

I enjoyed spending time in the operating room and learning from the kind and communicative surgeons and nurses. I also had the opportunity to meet many different people and experience a new culture. I especially loved the historical aspects of the experience, including seeing ruins and learning about Greece's history through museums. This experience not only gave me an inside look at possible career paths, but also allowed me to learn in multiple hospital settings and gain a better understanding of different areas of healthcare. Beyond the medical experience, I was able to immerse myself in another culture and develop a much broader perspective of the world. Overall, this experience helped me grow both professionally and personally, and it is something I will always value.

Since completing the Psychology internship in Cape Town, I've been more empowered in several key ways. I've developed greater cultural competence within my field, along with a stronger understanding of how to draw on other professionals and networks to bring together resources that genuinely support a community or individual. I also feel more confident in the value of my informal counselling skills, and a renewed appreciation for the value of my psychology degree and what it equips me to offer. My experience co-facilitating the DBT session for clients with BPD has genuinely inspired me to consider this as a potential area of future specialisation, and I'd like to continue building my knowledge and skills in this space. I enjoyed staying in the big intern house with the other interns and exploring Cape Town together. The cultural insight from the local coordinator and internship was very insightful and has allowed me to personally and professionally appreciate and develop my cross-cultural competence.

I was a little skeptical about what I was getting into when I signed up for this program but I am so so so glad that I gave it a shot. I learned so much about the history and culture of Greece while also seeing how PTs and clinic operate in different areas outside the US. I met so many amazing people, and the staff on the trip were so helpful and involved and truly wanted us to have the best time. I am beyond grateful for the experience and the connections that I made on this trip. Definitely would recommend going to anyone that is questioning it!

It is hard to pick one thing that I enjoyed the most. The entire experience in itself was amazing, and I could not be more grateful that I put myself out there. I was able to gain hands-on experience in the healthcare setting, which will better prepare me for my future.

I believe that this internship was beneficial for me in many ways, in and outside of the medical field. I enjoyed being able to see things in the hospital that I may have never gotten to see if I were not in this internship. Seeing so many types of surgery truly opened my mind to so many other career possibilities. I now have the confidence I was lacking to pursue what I truly want in the medical field.

Toucan Abroad gave me the experience of a lifetime! I gained valuable PT observation experience, explored so many beautiful places throughout Greece, and made lifelong friendships along the way. The directors were incredible so supportive, organized, and genuinely invested in making our experience unforgettable. I couldn’t recommend this program more to anyone looking for professional growth, adventure, and amazing memories.

I really appreciated and enjoyed how the internship was flexible in a way that I could try out different areas of the hotel, working with different departments instead of staying with one the entire time. I made some really good friends while working there, so this allowed me to connect with people from different parts of the world, and they are people with the same or similar career goals.

I enjoyed the entire experience as I learned a lot about cybersecurity, mainly in encryption and the use of drones, which was really exciting. The culmination of new knowledge and hands on experience in programming DES, ciphers and drones has significantly aided in my professional development as I now have a whole new knowledge base in this field. Personally, this internship also helped me understand how these algorithms can be adapted to cater to international interests and a range of languages.