I did a study abroad in Copenhagen called "medical practice and policy" and it was the best time of my life. There was a lot of exposure to culture as well as the comparative aspects of socialized medicine to our system in the usa (esp interesting to have experienced in light of recent healthcare changes). We went on trips to Stockholm and Estonia (could have picked Poland/Germany instead) and shadowed in clinics there. I even ended up going back for the summer to do courses on infectious diseases and got to volunteer in local AIDS clinics. Finally, taking their course on biomedical ethics led me to pursuing a master's degree in the topic after graduating from undergrad, and both experiences combined definitely have helped shaped the type of medical career I want for my future.
I disagree that adcoms wont like a medically-related study abroad - through my own experiences, the greater perspective you gain is highly admired. Obviously if you have other academic interests you should spend time pursuing them too. Im so dedicated and interested in medicine that this opportunity was invaluable, and I loved relating the cultural differences to medicine. My favorite part was the fact that by the end of my program, I was able to translate patient histories from Danish to English. Relating to all types of cultures and being able to handle international populations is an important value I have and want to hone as a clinician.
Its possible that the West Indies study abroad program has a different approach than the one I did. My school was affiliated with both the University of Copenhagen as well as the University of Minnesota (that way we could get our credits to count back here
), and our structure was mostly about shadowing, learning basic clinical skills, and taking med courses.
Bottom line - Do what makes you the most passionate.
Edit: I should also say that I have a wealth of clinical experience beyond just this program, so I did the program mostly out of interest and not a need to make up clinical hours or volunteering.