Brandon Chiedo was raised as a Jacksonville Jaguars fan, but he hopes to pursue a career in medicine that helps professional sports teams. The NFL is looking for more medical students like Chiedo to diversify sports medicine.
Chiedo is one of several Morehouse School of Medicine students receiving on-field training through the NFL’s Diversity Sports Medicine Pipeline Initiative. He spent September learning from the Atlanta Falcons’ medical team.
“It was an honor to work with the entire Atlanta Falcons medical staff for that four-week experience,” Chiedo said. “It was great to see how the doctors were able to juggle their regular clinic schedules with their NFL responsibilities.”
He added that it was a dream come true to meet the Falcons football players and see how they prepare for each game.
Chiedo, along with Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, discussed the “Closer Look” initiative with show host Rose Scott. Sills said the program is needed because sports medicine, like other medical professions, lags behind in terms of representation and diversity.
“And that’s a deep-seated problem,” Sills said. “If you look at the percentage of Black medical students in the total U.S. medical school population, this percentage hasn’t increased in about 40 years. So there’s a tremendous amount of work to do.”
“Committing to diverse representation across all roles in the league remains a top priority, and this program will grow our pipeline of diverse sports medicine professionals,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. , which will help make a tangible impact to strengthen.” “We know that diversity makes us stronger at every level, and we look forward to welcoming the 2023 class to player care teams at clubs across the league.”
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, from 2022 to 2023, “black or African American enrollment increased by 9 percent” and “Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish descent enrollment increased by 4 percent. ”. Meanwhile, “American Indian and Alaska Native matriculants decreased by 9 percent.”