Medical students graduate early to help fight coronavirus pandemic

Around 170 final year medical students have graduated early allowing them to enrol on their Foundation Year and become junior doctors, should they feel ready to do so.

Students volunteering to do this will have the option of taking up the post at a Trust near Southampton or at the Trust they have been allocated to work as part of the UK Foundation programme in the next few weeks.

At the same time, with the help of individuals at the University Hospital Trust, fast track roles to Health Care Assistants (HCA) were created, allowing students who had done their HCA training to join the NHS Bank, and help in much needed areas.

Additionally, anticipating the closure of schools, students took it upon themselves to create a childcare teams network, where medical students would be able to respond to advertisements from healthcare workers for help with childcare.

Raymond Effah, Medsoc Vice President/Medicine Faculty Officer, was involved in organising these schemes. He said: “Unprecedented times call for a swift and adaptive approach. Now with a clear path of progression for students, the work continues to facilitate their learning, and their work in the NHS.”

Temitayo Alawoya, is one of the medical students graduating early. She said: “This journey has been incredible. We pushed harder than we ever had before, stepped out of our comfort zones into a better light, held each other’s hands even though we were just as terrified and most importantly we kept pressing forward to our final goal – when we finished the race strong and crossed the finish line as doctors.”

Dr Jane Wilkinson, Associate Dean for Education for the Faculty of Medicine, said: “It is wonderful to see firsthand, the enthusiasm and dedication of our students who want to be part of the solution and tackle this deadly virus head-on. We wish them luck for the future.”