NYU Med Students Can Graduate Early To Fight Coronavirus: School

GREENWICH VILLAGE, MANHATTAN — New York University will let its medical school students graduate three months early to join in the fight against the new coronavirus, the school announced this week.

More than half of NYU Grossman School of Medicine's 122 students who were set to start working July 1 have taken up the school's offer to graduate early and begin working instead in early April, answering the call from Gov. Andrew Cuomo for more physicians in overwhelmed New York hospitals, the school announced Wednesday.

The 69-student workforce comes after what NYU leaders say was a "remarkable" response to a survey of its fourth-year students about whether they would be interested in graduating early.

"It was awe-inspiring and says a lot about our students and their dedication to take care of people who are sick and be part of the team of doctors taking care of these patients," said Dr. Steven B. Abramson, a senior vice dean at the school of medicine. "We're waiting to get final approval [and] we’re optimistic that will come."

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Abramson said the state's Department of Education, Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education — all of which NYU needs approval from — have reacted well to the idea. He expects they will OK the plan once they review the school's graduation criteria.

Cuomo also has already reacted positively to the addition to the workforce.

"Thank you [NYU]," the governor Tweeted about the news Wednesday. "It's all hands on deck. New York is calling on qualified health care professionals to join our health care reserve."

Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio have both called on any able health care professionals to join the fight against COVID-19, which is already overwhelming some city hospitals as cases spiked to nearly 18,000 in New York City Tuesday.

Abramson said Wednesday that all of NYU's hospitals are dealing with "significant pressure" on their physicians and resources because of coronavirus cases.

The hospitals have a record number of patients in the intensive care unit on ventilators and staff have started setting up new units to care specifically for COVID-19 symptoms, he said.

"The need to bring on additional physicians is quite acute," Abramson said.

So far, 40,000 people across the state have signed up as a surge healthcare force, Cuomo said Wednesday. That includes 2,000 retired health care professionals who stepped up within one day of the call for help.

Nearly all of the NYU medical students who graduate early will be matched with a hospital in the state or the East Coast, students said Wednesday.

They will join a team of residents and attending physicians, as they would normally when starting their internships, but will be trained in April instead of June, Abramson said. The most help is needed in NYU hospital's internal medicine departments and their emergency rooms, he added.

For students, jumping into the fight against the coronavirus six weeks early was an easy decision to make.

"It's really important to join what’s going on," said fourth-year student Evan Gerber. "We have the training to be able to help and do our part — I think we’re ready to do that."