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April 20, 2020

Medical students graduate early from University of Aberdeen to help fight Covid-19

University of AberdeenThe latest cohort of doctors from the University of Aberdeen graduated nine weeks early to enable many of them to support the NHS in the fight against Covid-19.

The early graduation date of Friday 17th April 2020 for final year medical students at the University of Aberdeen was chosen with guidance from the General Medical Council. This was specifically so the Class of 2020 can join the NHS frontline, and those new graduates able to join the NHS effort will begin their work in a supported and supervised environment across the UK by the end of April.

Due to the current coronavirus lockdown restrictions, the 179 medical graduates enjoyed a virtual graduation ceremony in an event that included hearing from key figures in the Medical School.

The Director of the Institute for Education in Medical and Dental Sciences at the University of Aberdeen, Professor Rona Patey, explains, “Our medical graduates will begin their careers by applying their skills and knowledge to support the response to an unprecedented world health crisis. We are immensely proud of their achievements and are confident that they are prepared and ready for the challenges ahead.”

Head of the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, Professor Siladitya Bhattacharya, adds, “Everything the Class of 2020 have learned over the last five years will be tested in the weeks and months to come and they will succeed because they are absolutely ready. We are immensely proud of our new doctors and wish them the very best in these unprecedented times.”

The new medical graduates will be pre-registered as doctors this week by the General Medical Council (GMC) after the UK Government went to the GMC and Medical Schools last month to ask if early registration was possible in order to help support the NHS during the coronavirus pandemic.

One of the new cohort of doctors soon to join the NHS frontline is 23-year-old Callum Eddie from Aberdeen who will be working as a junior doctor in Aberdeen. He says, “Being a doctor is all I've ever wanted to be so I am looking forward to doing what I can. In the last few weeks I have been in awe of the NHS. Every single person working, or volunteering, has been absolutely incredible, and it has been amazing to hear everyone’s support every Thursday evening too. The amount of work everyone has put in, and the danger people are putting themselves in on the front lines is absolutely admirable.

Callum continues, “I am sure my classmates would agree, the way we can contribute to the effort to tackle Covid-19 is to do literally whatever is needed. The way I see it is, we are all in this together, healthcare professionals and the general public included, and if we all continue working together as a team we will get through this.”

Find out more about the University of Aberdeen.

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Content added on 20th April 2020. 

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