Program Reviews

Philotimo's team, the professors, and the hospital staff made everything so great. Stavros is so much fun and cares about the students, so organized, He's amazing! I had the opportunity to travel from my country, Lebanon following my heart as I want to become a doctor. The Philotimo internship helped me so much to realize that being a doctor is not easy but is such a rewarding profession. The doctors in Greece are so friendly and explain all the procedures during the operation. Stavros's group meals and stories are unforgettable. I really enjoy this unique experience.

I'm very happy I chose to participate as I got to see so many medical procedures and made friends with a bunch of new people. I had a great time exploring Larissa and learning about its culture.
The Professors and doctors love what they teach and have a deep passion for their job. I learned a lot in this medical internship. Which also helped me explore Greece better.
The Stavros the program director is very fun and energetic. The accommodation is great, every day there is a buffet breakfast. I highly recommend this program.

All of this knowledge and experience has helped me to solidify my career aspirations within medicine. Some specific skills include medical terminology, and interpersonal skills/patient-professional interactions. The professors and doctors explained everything and answered questions while performing this procedure. After completing my internship experience, I now feel on a personal level, more mature and responsible. Traveling on my own in a new country has been an eye-opening and welcome experience. Furthermore, I now feel more confident in my interactions with others. I gained a wealth of knowledge from my two weeks of shadowing and solidified that this path is what I want for my future career.

I learned what it is like to be a doctor, every day I got to rotate in the hospital's departments and gain a solid perspective of my medical career path.
The hospital staff were very friendly and showed us many things. The program director, Stavros was very organized, and he made us feel at home. Our accommodation was clean and in the city center. Larissa is a very safe city with so many things to see and do. The food in Greece was amazing, the Philotimo excursions were a big plus. We got to drive to the beach and do horseback riding.

I participate in my Medical internship with Philotimo in a top hospital with cutting-edge technology. It was one of the most impressive University hospitals I have ever seen.
My internship role as a medical trainee was to assist doctors during their clinical activities and to observe them during surgery. I also had the chance to observe one of the best hematologists in Europe at work, they were amazing supervisors, teaching me a lot! As a medical student, this internship supported my long-term goals, as I gained a lot of new clinical and hands-on experience, while also further developing skills I already had. Everything I learned during the hospital internship placement will be useful in my future career as a clinician. It will also help me to complete my medical degree.

I’ll start with my program director Stavros – He was always willing to advise me and the other girls on places to visit and have dinner. Our accommodation was clean and the perfect size for me and my roommate. It was about a 10-minute walk from the shelter and 5 minutes from the bus station to the hospital. As far as the program at the hospital went, I spent my days in orthopedics, surgery, internal medicine, and neurology. It was great to get a glimpse of the physician’s day-to-day procedures while learning some more Greek!

I’ve never experienced something like this before.
As far as living in Greece, has been even more life-changing than anything I’ve experienced before. Living in a city- I come from New Jersey, which is a little more rural- so I’ve never taken the metro before. I usually have to drive my car everywhere- here I did walk- and that was a real learning experience. It was interesting using our non-verbal communication like facial expressions and gestures to communicate with people around in public- even at the hospital even though everybody speaks English.
I was able to meet a lot of cool girls. My two roommates are from Florida and California and it was nice to bond and go to work with them. We’ve developed really good relationships. They were helpful and easy to communicate with.

I stayed in Larissa, Greece for 2 weeks. I completed 50 AAMC-compliant physician shadowing hours through the Philotimo Clinical Internship My experience shadowing at University Hospital was invaluable and gave me a fundamental understanding of what I hope to specialize in as a future physician. I gained exposure to global healthcare. I learned how to overcome cultural communication barriers. I am currently completing several interviews for admission. When filling out my medical school applications, I described what I learned from my clinical internship with Philotimo in Greece and how it reinforced my passion for becoming a doctor.

This experience was one I will never forget. At the hospital, I was exposed to a whole new world of medicine which helped open my eyes. It allowed me to witness surgeries, patient care, and basic doctor interaction. I met individuals with similar passions and goals.
The excursions are a plus! Meteora, Trikala and Mount Olympus. Greek food is delicious, and Philotimo organized a welcome and farewell party. Stavros is must of the time with us, guiding us and answering our questions.
Overall, the program was amazing,

I see the world and making some changes seems amazing in my eyes and this opportunity with Philotimo Med Abroad seemed like the perfect place to start.
Whilst there are so many organizations out there I chose Philotimoi as they were an affordable and professional organization that offered a great experience to 17+ years old which was perfect for me based on my age at the time.
My reasoning for choosing Greece is that it is an amazing country which I've had a connection with since a young age. For anyone who's a first-time volunteer and shadowing like I was, this is a perfect destination to go to and organization to go with.