Participating in PATH consists of the following:

All workshops and events will be posted to Handshake.

September

Am I Ready to Apply? Workshop:

In this interactive in-person workshop, we will assist applicants in understanding the requirements of applying to medical, dental, optometry and podiatry programs and assessing their readiness.

You’ll be asked to self-reflect on the experiences you’ve had, including coursework, clinical/direct patient care, and more.

October

Preparation and Application Toward Healthcare (PATH) Orientation
(virtual or in-person)

These sessions last 1.5 hours and provide a complete overview of the PATH process, working with the HPAC Committee, completing your portfolio and other expectations. At the end of the workshop, you’ll complete a Handshake application to officially start the PATH process.

November or December

Personal Statement Writing Workshop

Attend one of these virtual workshops hosted by URI’s Writing Center.

The workshop will assist applicants in becoming familiar with writing a personal statement.

Personal statements are expected to be your own work and not composed by generative AI (ChatGPT, Co-Pilot, Gemini, etc.).

November – January

Initial Assessment Meeting with Pre-Health Career Pathways

We’ll meet to assess whether your academic and experiential preparation gives you a reasonable chance of success.

Prior to this meeting, applicants should have done the following:

Attend a PATH Orientation
Update Handshake profile with current and accurate experiences listed
Complete the PATH application

February

Portfolio for Application to the Health Professions (PATH)

Your portfolio will provide the HPAC Committee with an understanding of who you are as a candidate.

Your portfolio will be completed through Handshake. All students (and alumni) have access to Handshake using their URI Single Sign On username and password. For alumni, follow this quick article on how to update your profile with your personal email address.

Your portfolio will consist of the following:

Your completed Handshake profile, listing out all courses completed, projects, and detailing your experiences (clinical/direct patient care, volunteer, research, shadowing, on campus involvement/leadership and any other experiences)
A completed PATH Competency Self-Assessment Microsoft Form

In addition to your portfolio in Handshake, you will also request Letters of Recommendation.

Letters of Recommendation for PATH

You will need to obtain a minimum of four (4) letters of recommendation, and not more than five (5) letters total in support of your committee letter.

These letters are sent to health profession schools in a combined PDF with your committee letter.

Guidelines on Letters:

At least two (2) of your evaluations must be from URI faculty who are familiar with your work from courses, research, or other academic activities (e.g., teaching or tutoring).

At least one of these URI faculty letters must be from someone in the sciences, though we strongly recommend that you have at least two.

The remaining 2-3 letters may come from individuals at URI or elsewhere who have supervised, mentored, or taught you and who can write in-depth about your personal attributes as they relate to health care practice.

Letters from relatives, family friends, and peers will not be accepted

If applying for MD/PhD programs, at least two of your letters must be from research mentors

We recommend that you reach out early: connect with your letter writers right after you attend a PATH Orientation in the Fall semester. Provide your letter writers with a deadline of February 1.

When requesting a letter of recommendation for your health professional program application, it’s important to be thoughtful, professional, and organized in your request. For more on who to ask and how to ask for a strong letter, see below:

how to ask for a letter of recommendation

March

Is are a series of short interviews, each based on a single question prompt. During your MMI session, you will rotate through interviews with multiple interviewers (HPAC members or guest interviewers). The questions could involve hypothetical situations, ethical dilemmas, specific questions about your background, and/or issues in healthcare practice or policy.

Your interviewers will be interested in how you think about various problems and scenarios, your ability to self-reflect, how well you communicate your thoughts and opinions, and your overall level of professional presentation.

This interviewing style is often used in health professional program interviews as a part of the admissions process. Professional dress is required.

To prepare, we strongly recommend that you review the interviewing materials provided by the Center for Career and Experiential Education (CCEE):

Interviewing Module (self-paced interviewing content in google slides)
Interviewing Quick Tip Sheet (interviewing at a glance)

Strongly suggested: make an appointment with your Career Education Specialist to complete a mock interview prior to attending the Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI’s)

March – April

One-on-One Interview with HPAC Committee Member

In addition to an MMI, all applicants will have a one-on-one, hour long interview with a member of the HPAC Committee.

This interview will be more personalized and formal than the Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI’s).

Your interviewer will have read your portfolio on Handshake; their questions will be both specific to your situation and more generally about health care education and practice.

They may also have feedback for you about ways to improve your application.

Professional dress is required.

Final Applicant Group Meeting

Held the last week in April, this virtual meeting will review what the application looks like for your health professions program and timeline for committee letters.

May

This is the final meeting of the PATH process. You will have an opportunity to ask any questions you might have about your application, and receive specific feedback about your application strategy, along with any concerns the Committee might have about your candidacy.

Waiver of Right to Access Letters of Recommendation and Committee Letter

Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), you have the legal right to view letters of recommendation written about you.

However, health professions schools strongly prefer that these letters remain confidential, as they tend to carry greater credibility when the author knows the letter will not be viewed by the applicant. Confidential letters are often perceived as more candid and objective, which can ultimately strengthen your application.

As part of the PATH process, you are asked to indicate whether or not you waive your right to access both your individual letters of recommendation and the HPAC committee letter.

You will have the opportunity to make this decision as a part of completing your Handshake portfolio. This selection is required in order for your portfolio to be reviewed.

Please consider this choice carefully, as it may impact how your application materials are perceived by admissions committees.