Select medical students of the class of 2020 at NYU Grossman School of Medicine received permission to graduate early to begin working as interns as hospitals across the country fight 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Fourth-year medical student Gabrielle Mayer is one of the students volunteering to graduate and begin working early to help respond to New York’s surging COVID-19 cases.

“I feel very confident that I have a skill set that is going to be useful for patient care at this time,” Mayer tells Rachel Maddow. “I’m interested in helping patients as well as the healthcare professionals fighting COVID, and that made this a straightforward choice for me.”

Watch more on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show.