Thirteen medical schools in New York state intend to allow students to graduate early to join the fight against COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, Associated Medical Schools of New York President and CEO Jo Wiederhorn told The Wall Street Journal.
The medical schools in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County include New York University's medical school, which is allowing students to graduate a few months early to begin working in NYU's internal medicine or emergency medicine departments amid the pandemic.
They also include Valhalla-based New York Medical College, one of the nation's largest private health sciences colleges. For the past month, Chancellor and CEO Edward Halperin, MD, has been in contact with hospital and health officials, and more than 400 New York Medical College students have been placed at local facilities, such as Westchester Medical Center, the Journal reported.
"Any good doctor learns really fast when you get thrown into a situation," Dr. Halperin told the newspaper. "Would it have been better if they had more time? Yes. But extraordinary times call for extraordinary solutions."
New York has been hit exceptionally hard by COVID-19. As of 10 a.m. CDT March 30, there were 67,384 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state.