NYU Grossman School of Medicine has announced it is offering early graduation to fourth-year medical students to help treat people with 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It is the first medical school in the nation to offer early graduation.

Steven B. Abramson, MD, executive vice president and vice dean for education, faculty, and academic affairs at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, tells The New York Times that the decision came as NYU Langone’s hospitals are treating an increasing number of people with COVID-19, including in critical care. He says multiple fourth-year students have been volunteering their service.

“We’re running into issues of manpower,” Dr. Abramson says. “That led us to conclude: Why not graduate students who are interested in serving in hospitals now? They’ve completed their requirements, and they’re prepared.”

Dr. Abramson expects that other medical schools will do the same.

Read more from The New York Times.