Final-year medical students at the University of Nottingham are being graduated early, while nursing students go into extended placements to support the NHS response to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Over 250 final-year medical students who have passed their final exams and completed their clinical skills and fitness to practice assessments will be graduated on Wednesday 8 April.  

They will then be eligible to grain provisional registration to practice with the General Medical Council. Under normal circumstances they would commence their Foundation Year 1 training in August but are being given the opportunity to opt in to the Foundation Interim Year 1 programme led by Health Education England. 

This will enable them to carry out a range of duties such as note taking, ordering investigations and completing discharge work until they commence their formal training in August. 

Professor John Atherton, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the University of Nottingham’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, said: “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures and we are incredibly proud that our talented graduates are able to step up to support the NHS in its hour of need, responding to the unprecedented pressures created by this coronavirus pandemic.” 

Meanwhile in the School of Health Sciences, almost 200 University of Nottingham student nurses will go into extended paid placements for a minimum of 12 weeks. 

As of Tuesday 7 April 172 of these student nurses are expected to stay at local Trusts across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, including Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Nottingham Citycare Partnership, Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Trust. 

Professor Joanne Lymn, Dean and Head of the School of Health Sciences, said: “We are exceptionally proud of our student nurses who are able to go onto placement to support the national health service. These are challenging circumstances for us all and their courage and commitment to the profession is extraordinary.” 

In light of current restrictions around the coronavirus pandemic, UK graduation ceremonies have been postponed but our early-graduating medics will still have the opportunity to celebrate at a later date. 

On behalf of everyone at the University of Nottingham we’d like to extend our congratulations and thanks to these students, as well as to all staff who helped make it possible.