Cerca Abroad

My name is Katerina and I am a student from Ontario, Canada. I chose the medical internship simply because I wanted to learn more about all the different parts and workings of the hospital as well as different positions in healthcare. I’ve really loved my time at the hospital, especially shadowing a surgery. I got to see a lot of very interesting procedures and I got to learn a lot. The doctors were excellent teachers. So, it’s very interesting and informative. Coordination-wise it was very clear, communicated amazingly. They were awesome at accommodating me and my needs, which was also very nice. Athens overall was awesome. It’s such a cool city. The people are so sweet and so nice. They love to see people from abroad. It was a great time.

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Hi, my name is Luke, I am from New York, USA. I currently attend New York Institute of Technology. I chose to intern abroad in Athens because I wanted to spend some time away from home, see what it’s like to intern abroad, and because I don’t have the roommate experience back at college. I assumed it would be nice to live with people who are around my age who have the same interests as me and also to get to travel, which I haven’t done much in my life. So, my overall experience throughout my internship was very positive. I got to spend two weeks in surgery, which was very cool. I got to see tons of orthopedic surgeries, which is where my interests lie, and I am currently finishing my rotations which has been very cool. I got to see tons of things. I saw the blood lab yesterday, I saw dialysis today. Athens is very cool. Tons of food I got to try. So much history to be learned. Many places I got to see, like the Acropolis. I’ve seen Santorini—that was a cool island. I got to see the Olympic Stadium, that was very cool. I still have yet to visit the Acropolis Museum, which I plan to visit tomorrow. My favorite food to try here was the gyros. It was very good. The souvlaki was also very good. The coordination with Cerca Abroad was also very well put together. Everyone was on top of everything. Whenever I have had any concerns, they addressed them; they were right on top of them and made sure to take care of them. Nothing bad to say about it.

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Hi, I am Olivia, I am from Georgia in the United States and I study at the University of Georgia. I chose the medical internship because I am pre-nursing and I wanted to get an idea of the specialty and what I am going to get into. This internship has done an amazing job in exposing me to all the different kinds of medicine. I feel that the team has done a really good job at giving me all the information that I needed to know about getting around Athens, getting to work, and how to enjoy the city, which is really amazing. I enjoyed my time here. The culture and the people are very welcoming.

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Hi, my name is Tyler, I am from London and I go to the University of Bristol. I study English and Philosophy for my BA and I chose to do this program because I really enjoy arts and cultural heritage. Being in Athens is very fun for me because I am very interested in ancient philosophy. So, seeing all the different sites has been really fun for me.

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Hi, my name is Scott, I am from Zanesville, Ohio, in the U.S. I am currently twenty years old and in my second year at Ohio University studying Mechanical Engineering. I chose Cerca because through my university I am required to gain some international experience during my time in college, so I went online and found it, and the engineering program through Cerca seemed very appealing to me. It seemed relevant and practical to me and it just seemed—honestly—kind of scary to live somewhere new compared to where I am familiar, which was exactly why I wanted to do it. Through Cerca I was put in the Automotive Lane at the International Hellenic University here in Sindos in Thessaloniki, Greece. I’ve been mostly working with an aerial drone here; I’ve done three different projects. Firstly, we tried to make the drone fly in an exact pathway; we attached a temperature sensor to it to measure the temperatures in its path. After that we used a proximity sensor to make the drone navigate through obstacles using built-in WIFI, which we struggled with unfortunately, and we haven’t been able to complete yet. As a final project we tried measuring the sound of the drone using noise-cancelling technology to try and set up a future intern with the resources to develop some technology to make the drone quieter as it operates. Here in Thessaloniki you will never run out of things to do. I really like it because everyone is friendly here. It seems unfamiliar at first, but it won’t stay that way for long. Even the coffee shop that I got to know better—there’s something for everyone. Like I’ve said, I mean there are beaches, museums, it’s a great place to go running, there are nightclubs—anything you want is here. We even went bowling. The food is fantastic. It’s almost never super processed so it always tastes very good compared to American food in a lot of cases. Not to mention it’s really cheap. The people are great. I am getting to know even people at the university. Some of the workers in the dining hall are always very friendly. They play music and there’s always a smile on their face. Even in our department we’ve had a couple of events like a barbeque; we got together, it was a lot of fun and we got a lot closer than some groups in America do. So, it’s really friendly here. It’s a great place to be.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Hi, my name is Rylee, I am from North Carolina and I came here as a rising junior. I chose to study in Athens, Greece, because it’s beautiful and I love immersing myself in new cultures. Greece has a wonderful culture and I love learning about new dental fields and the different paths around the world. During my internship here—a three-week one—I got to watch a lot of extractions, crowns, and placing crowns—I just loved it. The doctors have been very informative and I’ve learned a lot of new anatomy terms, as well as learning about the instruments. I’ve had some hands-on experience on stone teeth. I got to prep them for a root canal; I really loved watching root canals as well. It has been a really cool experience. Cerca Abroad has been really informative. Throughout the whole process we’ve had 24/7 contact with them. When we really needed them, we could text and it’s been really great. Thank you.

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Hello, my name is Devin-Danielle and I am a rising junior at the illustrious North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, in North Carolina, in the United States. I chose this internship because I am particularly passionate about wildlife conservation and biology and this opportunity provided me with the perfect experience for hands-on learning. So, one thing that I’ve found interesting was using these cameras to check the population density of wolves, bears, and other native species in the area. Apart from this, we track the paths of these animals and we also collect DNA of bears by going to their scratching posts and collecting hairs. Overall, I am pretty pleased with the coordination of my experience and I really enjoyed my time here. Thanks.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Hello, my name is Jordan, I am from Ecuador. I am a psychology student with a concentration in human analysis. My college is located in Connecticut but I am from New York. I chose this program because I wanted to learn and have a little bit of experience in psychology. The staff, I highly recommend them. The coordinators are good. I highly, really recommend this place for anybody who would want to do psychology or anything related to the field. Here in Athens, you can visit many beautiful places. I really enjoyed my time over here and I will hopefully come back next year.

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