07/08/2026
POV: I escaped Brazil winter and spent summer in a small town in Italy called Alessandria (about an hour from Milan!) shadowing doctors, exploring vineyards, becoming best friends with total strangers, learning how to make authentic pesto & living like a true local 🤌🏼
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🏷️ premed, med student, study abroad, shadow abroad
The hospital I shadowed in was built in the 1700s and felt sooo elegant, these marble floors were everywhere (and everything) 😍 IRCCSAziendaOspedalieroUniversitariaAlessandria
I’m in my 4th year of medical school (I have 2 years left!) but I still learned so much by shadowing different departments in the hospital. Back home, I’ve shadowed in endocrinology quite a lot. In Italy, I had the opportunity to do the same but it felt SO different. It felt like I was learning about it all over again because it’s done in a different way in Italy vs Brazil.
So it was really interesting to observe the differences between both countries. 🇧🇷🇮🇹
Doctor Mariana was so kind to me whenever I shadowed her in Cardiothoracic-vascular!
In this photo, we were looking at a chest X-ray of a patient who recently did a mitral valve replacement surgery, so Doctor Mariana conducted the x-ray as part of their routine postoperative evaluation. 🩻
This is one of my favourite days with the rest of the group 🥹 The program brought us to a w**e tasting together!
I just remember having so much fun with the other girls, laughing, getting to know each other. It felt like we bonded so much during this day! 🥹
Everytime I think about this moment, I feel so: 🥹🤭😭!!! I truly feel this moment encapsulated how being in Alessandria is like. Everyone was so kind, so welcoming, genuine and took care of us like we lived there our whole lives. I love big cities but I really think I may not have gotten this same feeling in a place like Milan.
A small view of our home away from home 🏡
Somehow got certified in making pesto??? 🌿 This was another highlight for me during the program
