Brazil drafting med students to fight Covid-19 spread

“I feel like an 18-year-old boy waiting to be drafted to war,” says medical student Angela Tudisco, 24.

Medical student Angela Tudisco, 24, was only months away from becoming a qualified physician. Close to finishing her final internship in the oncology unit of a teaching hospital, she was on the verge of getting her diploma. All of a sudden, however, her plans may have been turned upside-down, as Ms. Tudisco, along with thousands of other final-year med students, is being called up to work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Health Ministry had initially wanted to bring former doctors out of retirement to help in this “war effort,” but the idea was shot down as they would be more vulnerable to the virus. Instead, psychology residents and sixth-year medical students were called up.

“We will train them (residents and interns) to increase the workforce with young doctors, because, if they get sick, they will be able to recover faster and develop immunity. Those professionals are very important at this moment,” said Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, during a press briefing on Wednesday.

According to Mr. Mandetta, the students will be supervised by senior doctors “but,...