Cerca Abroad

Why choose Cerca Abroad?

Cerca Abroad is a business unit of Cerca Trova Ltd, a European based company (incorporation / VAT number: BG204499976), that specializes in engineering solutions and educational programs. The company started in 2017 by offering medical shadowing internships to hundreds of participants from around the world. Over the past few years it has expanded its program portfolio of in-person (agricultural, engineering, environmental, health) and remote internships (agricultural, engineering, health & safety, marketing, software) to Erasmus+ funded MSc degrees & courses (electromobility, marine/maritime ICT, precision agriculture), offering a range of exciting educational pathways. Our aim is to offer a top educational experience at a reasonable cost, without hidden fees and without unnecessary extras, giving the participants a freedom to learn, gain professional experience and emerge in a different culture.

Website

www.cercaabroad.com

Founded

2017

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Diversity & Inclusion 💙

BIPOC Support

Each participant’s identity may present challenges and questions, in addition to opportunities, when immersing in a new and different culture. Exploring a new culture can sometimes lead to experiencing a cultural shock as some places have different cultural norms, ranging levels of racial/ ethnic diversity, and are less aware or not so “politically correct” as your home country might be. Cerca Abroad strictly adheres to a non-discrimination policy of not denying any person access to, or participation in or the benefits of, or be discriminated against in any service, program, course or facility on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, disability, pregnancy, marital or parental status, physical condition or developmental disability.

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LGBTQIA+ Support

All our staff & local host teams are welcoming and inclusive of the LGBTQAI+ community, making our programs LGBTQAI+ friendly. Cerca Abroad strictly adheres to a non-discrimination policy of not denying any person access to, or participation in or the benefits of, or be discriminated against in any service, program, course or facility on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, disability, pregnancy, marital or parental status, physical condition or developmental disability.

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Neurodivergent Support

Cerca Abroad welcomes and supports participants that are Differently-abled/neurodivergent and offers a range of internship abroad programs that are specifically adapted to host interns. Although participants with neurodivergency have successfully participated in our programs, due to the nature of the abroad programs, the degree of access varies based on the activities, location and available infrastructure. Hence, at the application stage it is important to discuss with your Cerca Abroad program manager the program’s accessibility aspects and requirements. Cerca Abroad strictly adheres to a non-discrimination policy of not denying any person access to, or participation in or the benefits of, or be discriminated against in any service, program, course or facility on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, disability, pregnancy, marital or parental status, physical condition or developmental disability.

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Accessibility Support

Cerca Abroad welcomes and supports participants that have limited mobility conditions (including wheelchair users) and offers a range of internship abroad programs that are specifically adapted to host interns. Although participants with limited mobility have successfully participated in our programs, due to the nature of the abroad programs, the degree of access varies based on the activities, location and available infrastructure. Hence, at the application stage it is important to discuss with your Cerca Abroad program manager the program’s accessibility aspects and requirements. Cerca Abroad strictly adheres to a non-discrimination policy of not denying any person access to, or participation in or the benefits of, or be discriminated against in any service, program, course or facility on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, disability, pregnancy, marital or parental status, physical condition or developmental disability.

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Impact 🌎

Sustainability

Our steps towards creating a responsible experience

- We only work with registered organizations that have proven record of sustainable & ethical practices and long-term expertise in their field
- We collect feedback from all our participants and our host sites to continuously improve our participant’s experience
- We regularly visit our host sites to offer support/training, to evaluate processes/costs and provide transparent and affordable programs
- We review and evaluate each intern application and check their qualifications, criminal background and medical status for eligibility and suitability
- We ensure that our participants’ work does not impact the employment opportunities of the local community
- We refrain from overcrowding our host sites with participants and allocating only those that are needed
- All participants are requested to sign a Code of Conduct prior to arrival, which is designed to protect all stakeholders from inappropriate behavior or abuse
- Participants that breach ours or the host site’s Terms and Conditions and Code of Conduct will be removed without refund
- We take extra care allocating participants in sites that involve the care of others as well as animals

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Ethical Impact

We are committed to support our participants to create a positive impact on the local communities in parallel to their learning and developing activities abroad. Recognizing and evaluating ethical issues promotes responsible traveling which translates to a positive impact on the host communities and our interns. The relationships that are formed, the exchanged ideas, the local economy that is revived, the hands-on project that our participants contribute on, all leave a lasting a sustainable impact in each host site.

Our aim is to present realistic expectations to our participants, be honest and transparent on how we operate and use feedback from our interns and host sites to improve our processes and services. We remain committed to create a positive impact, whether it is with our stance for the environment (by becoming carbon neutral) up to working with hosts with similar values.

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Reviews

Hello. My name is Mariia. I am from Ukraine. I am a physiotherapy student. I study physiotherapy in the Netherlands. I was required to take a few weeks of internship, so I’ve chosen to come to Athens, Greece. I am very happy with my stay. I found it very helpful. I’ve seen many interesting things, for example, I was allowed to observe surgeries in surgery rooms, and that was a life-changing experience. So, hopefully, you would enjoy it too.

The Cerca agency is helpful. If I had any questions or if I had a requirement regarding my internship, they would help. I communicated with them easily. For example, I wanted to see more surgeries and that would be coordinated easily. Generally, I enjoy my stay in Athens. I’ve been to some Greek islands and I am planning to visit some more after finishing this program. So, I think you would enjoy it here too.

What was the most surprising thing you saw or did?

Observing surgeries firsthand was truly a lifetime experience. The complexity and precision were unlike anything I had imagined!

Pros

Observing surgeries was a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience
The Cerca agency was excellent and very helpful
I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Athens

Cons

I have no further comments

Hello, I am Driti Patel and I come from Morehead State University in the United States. I chose the medical internship because I want to go into the medical field. I am studying to be a doctor with a goal to be a pediatrician one day. My experience here was great. I loved it here. The departments were all nice. My favorite was the OD department; we got to see amazing surgeries.

The coordination here was nice, we were able to find everything nicely. The place we were living in was nice. It was close to our internship placement as well.

I loved Athens. It was a great place, a very beautiful city. The internship is great as well as the tourist areas. It’s all amazing. I do recommend it.

What was the most surprising thing you saw or did?

The most surprising thing I saw was the sheer complexity and success of some amazing surgery cases . Witnessing that level of skill firsthand was truly inspiring.

Pros

Gained invaluable experience observing surgeries
The city of Athens is truly lovely
The touristic areas are fantastic

Cons

Hi, my name is Rofiat Dairo, I am from Manchester, U.K. and I go to Loyola University of Chicago, Illinois. I chose this internship because I wanted how medicine is first time really and be able to get myself into it, walk along with the doctors and how the experience would be and when I am actually to be a doctor. My experience with this internship, every opportunity I was given it was absolutely amazing and brilliant and something I never thought I would be doing in less than a few years, because of Covid actually. I loved it.

The coordination of the program was brilliant. It was amazing. I got to see some cool surgeries. Athens was great, I would definitely come back again. Yes, it was a great time. I would definitely do it again.

What was your funniest moment?

One of the funniest moments was realizing how incredibly cool the doctors were during surgeries-so focused and skilled! It definitely made me even more exited about my future in medicine.

Pros

Cool doctors with impressive skills
Brilliant coordination during procedures
Athens: a fantastic city to experience

Cons

I have nothing further to add

Hi, I am Irine, I am from Ontario, Canada and I am nineteen years old. I am majoring in Biology and I chose this program because I was interested in the medical field. I wanted to experience the workplace and how things get run around the hospital. My experience with the internship was amazing. We got to learn a lot from teachers and even surgeons. I really loved to see the OD department and be able to see so many great surgeons. I got to see an open heart surgery the other day. That was a life-changing experience.

The program was coordinated extremely well. Where I was staying was very pleasant. It was great to communicate back and forth with my workplace. The tourist areas were so nice to explore. I would definitely recommend coming to Athens. Whether it’s for the internship or just for tourism. It’s a beautiful place and I will definitely come back.

What was the most surprising thing you saw or did?

Seeing an open heart surgery was the most surprising thing and truly life-changing experience.

Pros

Enhanced experience
Receiving lessons from great surgeons
Very nice tourist areas

Cons

Nothing

Hello, my name is Naomi Shah and I am from America. I study biology at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. I chose to do this internship because I thought that it would be a great opportunity to get a lot of hands-on experience.

Especially since dentistry interests me and I wanted to pursue my passion for it. I was able to see a lot of new techniques and surgeries and luckily I had the opportunity to shadow a pediatric dentist as well as a general dentist. So, at my time with the pediatric dentist I was able to see how treatment with surgery with children is really different to with adults. Specifically, things that the dentist paid attention to and there was something that I really enjoyed, especially considering the fact that I am doing my md in pediatric dentistry; it was really a great experience. And then, with my time with Dr Costas here I was able to see many interesting treatments like root canals, implants, how to take impressions, cyst removal, a lot of cool things and he was able to teach me a lot of terminology and the tools he uses. So he was showing everything as he treated the person, which was very informational and helpful for me.

I am overall so happy with my experience with Cerca Abroad. I would totally recommend it to anyone that is considering it. I had a very seamless transition and the managers were willing to help me the whole time. Before I came here they gave me a lot of information. Once I got here they were always willing to help, so I am really glad I got to do this. Overall I am even happier I got to do it in Athens, since the city is so lovely, the people are so nice, there’s so much to do, the food is great, so I definitely enjoyed the program. Thank you.

What was the most surprising thing you saw or did?

During my dental study abroad , witnessing complex yet fascinating treatments firsthand was incredibly surprising. Procedures like intricate root canals revealing hidden canal systems, the precise placement of dental implants integrating with bone , and the careful removal of surprisingly large cysts were all eye-opening and far more involved than I initially imagined.

Pros