July 19th 2023.
The National Football League (NFL), the NFL Physicians Society (NFLPS) and the Professional Football Athletic Trainer Society have announced the second cohort of the NFL Diversity in Sports Medicine Pipeline Initiative. This initiative has been created to increase and diversify the pool of students interested in pursuing a career in sports medicine, and eventually to diversify NFL team medical staff.
This program has been expanded to include 19 medical students who will be completing clinical rotations with NFL teams, focusing on primary sports medicine and orthopedic surgery. The extraordinary students will be coming from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), such as Howard University, Morehouse College, and Meharry Medical College.
NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills expressed his excitement in a statement, "The NFL and our club medical staffs are thrilled to welcome these impressive medical students from around the country to the league this season. The league-wide expansion of the NFL Diversity in Sports Medicine Pipeline Initiative this season demonstrates a strong interest in sports medicine from diverse and under-represented medical students and is indicative of our clubs' commitment to diversity in all facets of the game."
The NFL teams participating in this year's cohort include the Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans and the Washington Commanders.
Throughout their month-long rotations, these medical students will get to observe and experience first-hand the care of NFL players. They will be working with orthopedic team physicians, primary care team physicians and athletic trainers, learning about medical knowledge and patient care in sports medicine. Moreover, they will become familiar with return-to-play guidelines and on-field treatment.
NFLPS President and San Francisco 49ers head team physician Timothy McAdams, MD, further expressed his enthusiasm for the program, “We are incredibly excited to participate in the second year of such an impactful and important diversity program. Mentorship is a critical component of recruiting students into our field, so we’re thrilled to immerse more talented medical students with diverse backgrounds into the NFL clubs’ medical communities. We’re all looking forward to watching this program continue to grow and impact more medical students in years to come.”
The NFL has made strides in diversifying their medical staffs and we are excited to see the impact that this program will have. The full list of medical students and their respective teams can be seen here.
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