Sophomore studies on Canary Islands

Most people visit the Canary Islands to get a glimpse of sun-soaked beaches, beautiful people and an exotic culture. Traveling to this vacation spot to analyze lung biopsies or teach local doctors English is more unusual.

Sophomore Anjani Kapadia spent five weeks in a hospital on the island of Grand Canaria this summer, working through the Atlantis Project, a fellowship designed to let American and Canadian college undergraduates learn more about foreign healthcare systems.

Atlantis Fellows spend two to ten weeks shadowing doctors in hospitals located on either the Canary or the Azore Islands. There, doctors provide students with one-on-one mentoring as they go about their rounds, letting students listen in on patient consultations and observe surgeries.

“It was an eye-opening experience,” Kapadia said. “Apart from letting us shadow them, the doctors would also answer questions about the Spanish healthcare system.”

Kapadia worked with endocrinologists, oncologists, pediatricians, ENTs and palliative care specialists. She spent a week shadowing each type of physician.

“As a pre-med and a public health major, I really learned a lot about what I have to look forward to in the future,” she said. “What’s more, I was certainly able to practice my Spanish because there was no guarantee that my doctor spoke English.”

Every Monday through Friday, the 30 fellows in Kapadia’s program would arrive at the hospital at 8 a.m. and work with the doctors until 3 p.m., at which point they were offered Spanish language lessons. In return, the fellows provided their physician mentors with lessons in English.

“Some of the doctors were less fluent than others, and hardly any patients spoke English, so I was left to listen in Spanish, and I was forced to learn more,” Kapadia said.

Fellows, who lived in university dorms, were given free reign to explore what the island had to offer during their time off from work. Kapadia said that she went on hikes, visited wine tastings and watched dolphins; of these excursions, the latter was her favorite. As all of the fellows were either North American undergraduate students or were recent graduates taking a year off before medical school, it did not take long for friendships to form.

“We all came to this program having the same interests and aspirations, which allowed me to make friends very quickly,” Kapadia said.

The program also gave her a global perspective on healthcare and medicine in general. In Kapadia’s opinion, the Spanish healthcare system emphasized patient-doctor relationships far more than what she has witnessed in American hospitals.

“Every doctor just seemed a lot more friendly and communicative than I would have otherwise expected. People seem to care more about their patients,” she said. “It was by no means a quiet hospital, and the doctors were often on edge, but culturally, people seemed more welcoming and friendly.”

To her surprise, Kapadia learned that all doctors in the hospital were paid the same rate, regardless of their specialties.

“A surgeon isn’t paid any more than a primary care physician,” she said. “They just seemed to care more about their patients than their paychecks.”

Kapadia first discovered the Atlantis Project last winter through the Public Health newsletter. Although she had to go through an application process that involved an interview, she said that it was not intimidating, and she encourages any aspiring doctors or public health professionals to apply.

“Anyone who is pre-health or pre-dental, anyone who is interested in learning about other health care systems [and] anyone who wants to learn and teach a language should go on this program,” Kapadia said.