Medical student Miranda Rooney can't wait to join the fight against coronavirus after her final exams were brought forward.WSU said students responded"within minutes" to the opportunity to fast-track their examsThey will be joining 40,000 retired medical professionals re-instated earlier this year
Western Sydney University has fast-tracked its medical exams for students who wish to start working in hospitals before they officially graduate. Ms Rooney, 23, is a fifth-year medical student in the midst of studying for her final exams at WSU and was eager to help a"struggling health system"."Pandemics generally … they make you feel quite helpless, scared about what's going to happen to everyone," Ms Rooney said.WSU's Dean of Medicine Annemarie Hennessy said almost all of her students responded"within minutes" for the opportunity to fast-track their exams.
The students won't be fully-fledged doctors but will instead be hired as"assistants in medicine" to work in non-COVID-19 wards.Professor Hennessy said they would be freeing up more experienced doctors to deal with the pandemic by doing routine medical care for patients. She said the fifth-year students were already familiar with working inside hospitals and were already doing minor procedures during their regular placements.