NYU Med School Will Graduate Students Early to Help New York Fight Coronavirus

As COVID-19 continues to slam New York City hospitals, New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine this week took the dramatic step of letting its graduating class depart early to join the response effort. New York City has rapidly become a hotspot for COVID-19, with more than 15,000 of the world’s roughly 440,000 cases as of the morning of March 25. Doctors and nurses have been working around the clock to care for the surge of patients, canceling elective procedures and non-urgent appointments to free up bed space, protective supplies and staffing for acutely ill patients. NYU’s action aims to add more physicians to the ranks. “In response to the growing spread of COVID-19, and in response to Governor Cuomo’s directive to get more physicians into the health system more quickly, NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU have agreed to permit early graduation for its medical students,” an NYU spokesperson confirmed to TIME. The decision is subject to approval by the New York State Department of Education, Middle States and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. According to an email circulating on Twitter, the option is available to students in NYU’s class of 2020 who have met all graduation requirements and volunteer to work in the NYU hospital system’s internal or emergency medicine departments beginning in April. NYU’s decision is just one example of COVID-19’s shakeup to medical education. “Match ...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news