NYU agrees to allow senior medical students graduate early to help with fight against the novel coronavirus

• New York University to allow medical students to graduate early to help with coronavirus patients.
• The measure will go into effect if approved by the New York State Department of Education, Middle States, and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.
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New York University plans to allow medical students to graduate early to help handle the influx of patients with coronavirus.

"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, pending approval from the New York State Department of Education, Middle States, and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)," Kate Malenczak, a spokesperson for NYU Langone Health told Business Insider in an email.

Malenczak did not offer any additional comment. Brief19, a group of doctors providing COVID-19 news, tweeted that they obtained an email sent out to graduating seniors, which announced the opportunity. Politico reporter Dan Diamond also shared a copy of the email.

According to the email obtained by Brief19, the offer applies to students planning to enter any field of medicine. They would be paid interns working as doctors at NYU's Internal Medicine or Emergency Medicine Departments.

New York has become the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the US with more than 26,000 confirmed cases and over 270 deaths.

A similar measure to have nursing students graduate early to deal with the outbreak occurred in Italy earlier this month.

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