Advertisement Mass. medical schools will graduate students early to help hospitals during coronavirus crisis Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Hundreds of medical students in Massachusetts will be joining doctors on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic about eight weeks earlier than they would have been able to.The deans of the four Massachusetts medical schools have agreed to the state's request to move up the graduation dates of their fourth-year students in anticipation of a surge in the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals in the state and throughout the country.On Wednesday, the states' secretary of health and human services, Marylou Sudders, had a conversation with the deans of the medical schools at Boston University, Harvard University, Tufts University and the University of Massachusetts, Worcester.Sudders urged the deans to move up their schools' graduation dates and promised to expedite the licensing process for the state's approximately 700 fourth-year medical students.The students, who would normally graduate in mid-May and begin an internship in mid-June, will graduate in mid-April and be available to work in area hospital.For example, the 192 fourth-year students at the Boston University School of Medicine will graduate April 17 instead of May 17, and can begin to work in area hospitals immediately if they choose to.Dr. Karen Antman, the dean of the BU School of Medicine and provost of the medical campus, sent a letter to fourth-year students on Thursday, stating that graduates will be able to choose whether to apply for a Massachusetts license or move to the location of their residencies. “Your class is clearly graduating at one of the most medically challenging times of the last century, and will shortly be an important part of our country’s response to the COVID-19 challenge,” Antman wrote. “We are proud of the physicians that you will soon be, and for the role that you will play in the care of your patients.”Of BU Medical's fourth-year students, 55 plan to do their residency in Massachusetts, 30 in California and 21 in New York.On Thursday, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed 10 new COVID-19-related deaths across the state, bringing the total to 25.The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases rose to 2,417 from Wednesday's total of 1,838, marking a 31.5% increase. All of the state's cases are now categorized as confirmed per guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.There are 23,621 Massachusetts residents who have been tested for COVID-19, a 19.3% jump from Wednesday's tested patients total.PHNjcmlwdCBpZD0iaW5mb2dyYW1fMF85MTUyMTg3My03NmRhLTQ0ZmUtOTA0Ny1mMTllZWFlZGFjNmQiIHRpdGxlPSJDb3JvbmF2aXJ1cyBpbiBNYXNzYWNodXNldHRzIiBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vZS5pbmZvZ3JhbS5jb20vanMvZGlzdC9lbWJlZC5qcz9yeXoiIHR5cGU9InRleHQvamF2YXNjcmlwdCI+PC9zY3JpcHQ+Cg==For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia or death. The vast majority of people recover.