Atlantis Global Shadowing Programs hosted a meeting at Jefferson on Apr. 18 during eighth period to inform students of opportunities abroad for shadowing doctors in the field. The program involves spending three weeks of the summer in Europe or South America and gives participants a chance to develop their interests in the medical field, form connections with doctors around the world, and build cultural awareness.

Sarah Stites, a TJ alum who previously participated in Atlantis Global, described her experiences working with high school students in the program.

“I think what is most exciting for me is seeing how people enter the program not knowing for sure what they want to do and knowing for sure whether they will enjoy travel and coming out of the experience having a definite opinion,” Stites said, “One way or the other, just having the experience and seeing how the experience has changed them and changed their perspective is amazing to me.”

To those on the fence about joining or unsure about either option, Stites suggests thinking broadly and choosing what fits best with their goals and needs.

“I would say, think about what you want to get out of life. It’s a very broad piece of advice but the reason I say that is because our program can meet a lot of different needs,” Stites said, “So if you think about what you want out of life, and you come to the conclusion, ‘I really want to broaden my outlook’, then this is a great program. If you want to gain clarity on your future career, then this is a great program.”

Sophomore Sonika Vuyyuru was able to relate this message to her own indecision on pursuing a future medical career.

“Biology and medicine is something that I’m really interested in but I’m not sure if that’s absolutely something that I want to do, so I think that the aspect of helping me figure out what I want to do would be really helpful,” Vuyyuru said.

Vuyyuru found the speakers extremely personable and willing to share their own stories with the audience. It was that aspect, more than anything else, which appealed to her.

“I think it was nice how they gave their own personal experiences. They gave little stories of how interactions were different in different countries versus in America,” Vuyyuru said, “Based on what I heard today, I think that it’s a  really great program, and I think that I’ll apply.”