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D'Youville Accelerates Graduation to Support Healthcare Workforce

100+ Students Ready in the First Wave of Early Graduates Providing COVID-19 Care

New York’s healthcare system will soon experience unprecedented levels of stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic. D’Youville announced today that they are ready to provide a rapid injection of resources. The university is accelerating graduation for high-needs healthcare fields such as Physician Assistant, Nursing, and Pharmacy.

D’Youville was the first university in Western New York to digitize classrooms after news of COVID-19 broke. While many colleges are still transitioning to online instruction, D’Youville has turned its attention toward addressing the urgent healthcare workforce shortages. D’Youville put plans in motion over the weekend to accelerate curriculum, award early graduation, replace some clinical requirements with simulation, and reestablish clinical placements where students under supervision can underpin the healthcare workforce.

“We’re waiting in the wings; we’re the second-wave team,” said Dr. Canio Marasco, Dean of D’Youville’s School of Pharmacy. “If one active Pharmacist contracts COVID-19, his or her colleagues would have to self-quarantine for a minimum of two weeks. This could debilitate access to medications, immunizations, testing, and treatment consultations.”

Currently, more than 30 D’Youville Doctor of Pharmacy students and 81 Bachelor of Science in Nursing students are preparing to enter the workforce early. This week, faculty in the respective programs will expedite the completion of their coursework and vote to confer their degrees early in an effort to infuse graduates in the workforce.

D’Youville’s President, Dr. Lorrie Clemo said, “These are unprecedented times and we must anticipate the needs. Our university is uniquely positioned with terminal programs in Pharmacy, Nursing, PA, OT and PT to reinforce the healthcare workforce in our region. We pledge to move quickly while adhering to the highest quality experiences for our students. This is a strong example of the types of new innovative partnerships that we are forging for our students and the community.”

To further encourage students to step out and serve the community, D’Youville has committed to providing all students in high-needs healthcare fields a $1,000 ‘graduation bonus’ if they opt to accelerate their education to assist the battle against COVID-19. The graduation bonus can be used for rent or down payment on a house anywhere in New York State.

“We want to help make it possible for our graduates to live and work in Buffalo after their graduation. If they are willing and able to help our community through this unprecedented healthcare crisis, then we are certainly willing to help them establish roots and become New York’s much needed future generation of healthcare providers” said Dr. Clemo.