University of Rhode Island staff participated in a committee at the Rhode Island Senate on July 2 to explore the feasibility of adding a potential medical school to URI.
The committee was appointed amid what the Rhode Island Medical Journal called a “healthcare crisis” in Rhode Island due to a lack of providers.
The 21-member committee was created to study the relation between educating and retaining healthcare workers in the state of Rhode Island, according to the senate resolution. URI President Marc Parlange and Dr. Patrick Vivier, dean of the College of Health Sciences, are both members of the committee.
“URI, as Rhode Island’s flagship public research university, is committed to addressing the state’s most pressing needs and to making a positive difference in our communities and in the lives of Rhode Islanders,” Parlange said in a statement.
When looking for solutions amidst the provider crisis, prioritizing education is a potential pathway, Vivier said.
“If students train in the state, particularly if they train at the state university, they’re much more likely to practice in the state,” Vivier said.
Between the years 2008 and 2017, 54.2% of providers practiced in the state they were trained in, according to a study conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
38.8% of physicians trained in Rhode Island practiced in the state, according to the same AAMC study. This places Rhode Island well below average, tied with New Hampshire for fourth lowest in the nation.
Rhode Island currently houses one medical school, the private Alpert Medical School at Brown University. No new medical school has been established in the state since Alpert in 1972.
Being one of the few states without a public state medical school presents an accessibility issue for Rhode Island students, according to Vivier.
“Having a state medical school provides access to students,” Viver said. “They’re more affordable than private schools and provide a more accessible education.”
The committee must present their study and recommendations to the Rhode Island senate before Jan. 2, 2026.
Kingston is already feeling the pressure of the healthcare provider crisis. South County Hospital, the closest hospital to URI, has faced backlash in September after the resignation of physicians, according to WPRI .
“Talk to anyone who either just moved here or their doctor retired,” Viver said. “Finding a doctor is really challenging.”
A URI medical school would also provide interdisciplinary benefits for students, Vivier said. This includes potential work with the colleges of nursing, pharmacy and health sciences.
“The idea of thinking about a medical school where nurses and physicians and pharmacists and nutritionists and psychologists are working together – that’s pretty exciting, right?” Viver said.
URI currently offers a pre-med program that advises potential providers of any major, according to the URI website . URI also participates in an early identification program in conjunction with Alpert Medical School at Brown University that connects URI undergraduates with Alpert Brown admissions.