On Jan. 27, a R.I. legislative commission officially recommended the establishment of a public medical school at the University of Rhode Island to help combat the state’s shortage of primary care physicians.
“As the state’s flagship public research university, the (URI) is deeply committed to addressing the most pressing challenges facing our state,” URI President Marc Parlange, co-chair of the commission, said in a press release sent to The Herald. “Establishing a medical school at (the) URI is a natural and strategic extension of this work — one that is both realistic and a sound investment.”
After 18 months assessing the need and feasibility of implementing the medical school, the commission voted 15-0 in favor of the recommendation, according to Sen. Pamela Lauria, who also served as the group’s co-chair. The commission heard from various experts, stakeholders and the public to finalize the recommendation, she wrote in an email to The Herald.
“Rhode Island is deep in a primary care crisis, and one that is projected to get even worse in the next several years,” Lauria said in a press release. “It’s clear that enabling Rhode Island students to more affordably enter the primary care field, and supporting them once they make that choice, is both feasible and necessary.”
According to a feasibility study by Tripp Umbach, a medical school at the URI is predicted to create over 1,300 jobs, around $196 million in annual economic activity and $4.5 million in annual local and state tax revenue.
Steven Cohen, an associate professor of public health at the URI, believes there is a “significant need” for public medical education in the state.
“There may be many applicants who are well qualified for medical school and who want to stay in greater Rhode Island, but might not be able to pay the high price of tuition at an elite, private medical school like Brown,” he wrote in an email to The Herald.
The Warren Alpert Medical School, currently the only medical school in the state, was ranked the third most expensive private medical school nationally by U.S. News in 2023.
“A public medical school at (the) URI will offer Rhode Islanders an affordable medical education, enabling them to afford primary care as a specialty,” Lauria said.
Rhode Island is predicted to have a deficit of almost 100 primary care providers by 2030, The Herald previously reported.
Lohith Chatragadda, a senior at the URI double-majoring in molecular neuroscience and microbiology, believes a public medical school could be “extremely beneficial” for the R.I. health care system amid the primary care provider shortage.
Chatragadda also believes that a public medical school could help more “motivated” premedical students stay in Rhode Island for their medical education, which would “translate to more passionate physicians with a personal connection to Rhode Island in all specialties.”
For Cohen, if “we are going to build and grow a medical school at (the) URI, (then) we either go all out to make it the best possible public medical school in the region, or don’t pursue this at all.”
Nate Barkow is a senior staff writer for the Youth and Education beat and a co-chief of The Herald's social media team. He is from New York City and plans on concentrating in International and Public Affairs and Education Studies. In his free time, he loves trying new restaurants and watching Survivor.
