NFL Teams Up with HBCU Medical Schools for New Initiative
Photo by Jean-Daniel Francoeur from Pexels
There are significant racial disparities between the football players and the supporting staff in the NFL. While most NFL players are Black, there are only a few Black coaches and medical staff in the league. To increase diversity, the NFL recently announced a new initiative that will expose HBCU medical students to careers in sports science.
The program is called the NFL Diversity in Sports Medicine Pipeline Initiative and is a partnership between the NFL Physicians Society (NFLPS) and Professional Football Athletic Trainer Society (PFATS), two organizations that strive to diversify the medical teams in the NFL. Participating institutions include Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles; Howard University College of Medicine in Washington; Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta; and Meharry Medical College in Nashville. According to ABC News, selected students from the participating schools should be interested in primary care sports medicine and orthopedic surgery.
In the program, sixteen students will split into groups of two along with the eight participating NFL teams: the 49ers, Bengals, Chargers, Commanders, Giants, Falcons, Rams, and Titans. Students will shadow each team’s athletic trainer and primary and orthopedic team physicians during this program to increase their competency in sports medicine. In addition, during the in-season rotations, students will gain an understanding of return-to-play guidelines and how the medical team facilitates on-field treatments (ABC News).
Dr. Allen Sills, NFL’s chief medical officer, made the following statement on the new program during a recent press conference on May 24th, 2022 (via NFL):
“We really want these students to connect with people who can continue to mentor them, and stay involved with them, and advise them as they enter this pipeline and hopefully choose careers that wind up in sports medicine. So again, this is our first year of doing this. It's our inaugural year, and we hope to expand this program next year to almost all – hopefully all – the NFL teams and will also involve additional medical schools.”
NFLPS and PFATS plan to expand the program to more medical schools and NFL teams in 2023 after its inaugural program commences.