Return to Story

General Guidelines and Requirements

First time republishing a Side Effects story? Read our Frequently Asked Questions first for important information.

Side Effects Public Media welcomes the republication of any of our original reporting. However, we require that you do the following:

Credit

1. Credit the reporter as follows: By [reporter name] – Side Effects Public Media.
2. Credit and link back to us in the footer at the end of the piece as follows: "This story was produced by Side Effects Public Media, a news collaborative covering public health."
3. If you republish our photographs or graphics, use the same credits that appear with our images. You are responsible for obtaining any rights for all other pictures and materials not created or owned by Side Effects (such as stock or AP photos).

Editing

1. Side Effects uses AP style. Edit only to reflect relative changes in time or location (for example, changing "yesterday" to "last week" and "Columbia, Missouri" to "Columbia" or "here") or to conform to your newsroom style. You may not pull soundbites to use out of the larger context of the journalistic work.
2. All original links in the story must be included in any republication.
3. Additional edits may be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us at sideeffects@wfyi.org if you would like to make changes beyond those described in this section.

For Public Radio and TV Stations

All Side Effects original reporting can be pulled in with the NPR Story API, a feature available on Core Publisher and many other public media web systems. If you're unsure how to do this, contact your station webmaster for more information.

ID Information for NPR API Use
Side Effects Public Media's Station/Organization ID	4780019
This Story's ID (Use "Get NPR Content" Menu)	1109898291

For Other Publications

Online

1. To republish this story, copy and paste the HTML below into the "source" view of your content management system (ex: Wordpress, Drupal, etc). Our tracking tag, embedded at the end of the story, must be included in all republications. The tag tells us who is sharing and viewing our stories.
2. If you choose to rebuild the story in your CMS, be sure to include the tag for the specific story; the HTML is provided in a separate box at the bottom of the page.
3. If you cannot use our tracking tag for some reason, e-mail our editor at sideeffects@wfyi.org.

For Radio/Streaming Audio

For outlets with an existing subscription to PRX, Side Effects prefers that you use it to download stories because of the back end analytics it gives us. For others, we recommend, but do not require, the use of PRX. If you want to use radio stories but do not have access to the platform, get in touch with us at sideeffects@wfyi.org.

Print

You have two options for republishing in print: highlight and copy the page or request an editable (typically MS Word) file from our editor by contacting us at sideeffects@wfyi.org.

Source Code for Republication

Full Story

To republish this story, copy and paste the HTML below into the "source" view of your CMS (ex: Wordpress, Drupal, etc):

<p>The National Football League is launching a program to invite medical students from historically Black colleges and universities to work with NFL teams’ medical staffs this season. The goal is to help diversify the pipeline of Black doctors who are interested in careers in sports medicine.</p><p>As part of their coursework, third- and fourth-year medical students do one-month clinical rotations focused on different specialties, often within the teaching hospitals affiliated with each medical school. The <u><a href="https://www.nfl.com/playerhealthandsafety/health-and-wellness/diversity/" class="Link" target="_blank">NFL Diversity in Sports Medicine Pipeline Initiative</a></u> will allow students interested in sports medicine to do a rotation at an NFL club, working alongside physicians caring for professional athletes.</p><p>“What we're really looking to do is to have the students understand all of the elements to go into the care of the NFL athlete, and also connect with mentors and advisors who they can stay in touch with as their careers develop,” said <u><a href="https://www.nfl.com/playerhealthandsafety/resources/allen-sills-md" class="Link" target="_blank">Dr. Allen Sills</a></u>, a neurosurgeon and the NFL’s chief medical officer.</p><p>The program will accept 16 medical students interested in either primary care sports medicine or orthopedic surgery from four HBCUs: Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine and Meharry Medical College.</p><p>Students will be placed with one of eight participating NFL clubs: Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee Titans and Washington Commanders.</p><p>Participants will learn how to provide care to players "both in practice situations, game day situations, in the training room, possibly in physicians’ offices, and even in surgery as well,” Sills said. “So it's a comprehensive overview of the sports medicine team of a professional team.”</p><p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center>
 <iframe src="https://publicinput.com/display/?assetId=146089&embedId=61862" height="425" frameborder="0" id="embed61862" style="width: 100%" scrolling="yes"></iframe>
</div></p><p>Nearly 86 percent of the members of the National Football League Physicians Society identify as White, and only 5 percent identify as Black, according to an NFL press release citing internal surveys.</p><p>Sills said the NFL has a long way to go to increase diversity among its medical staff. But the problem of lack of diversity in U.S. medicine is even broader.</p><p><u><a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsr2028487" class="Link" target="_blank">According to a study</a></u> in the New England Journal of Medicine, less than 12 percent of U.S. physicians identify as either Hispanic or Black, but census data shows these groups make up 18 percent and 13 percent of the U.S. population, respectively. Parts of sports medicine fall under orthopedic surgery, which is among the least diverse specialties in medicine, with only 3.4 percent of medical school faculty identifying as Black, <u><a href="https://journals.lww.com/jbjsoa/fulltext/2020/06000/barriers_to_increasing_diversity_in_orthopaedics_.9.aspx" class="Link" target="_blank">according to one study</a></u>.</p><p>“We need to be very intentional about that. And we need to work on this pipeline of people who are choosing these careers, and making sure that we assist them,” Sills said.</p><p>According to a statement from the NFL, the program will recruit medical students from additional academic institutions in future years, and expand to include placements at more NFL clubs across the U.S. in 2023.</p><p><u><a href="https://www.nfl.com/playerhealthandsafety/resources/fact-sheets/faq-nfl-diversity-in-sports-medicine-pipeline-initiative" class="Link" target="_blank">The program</a></u> “will also work toward widening the sports medicine pipeline for other people of color and women in the seasons ahead … [and] broaden to disciplines beyond primary care sports medicine and orthopedic surgery.”</p><p>Disciplines that may be added in future years include: physicians assistants, certified athletic trainers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, nutritionists and behavioral health clinicians.</p><p><i>This story comes from a reporting collaboration that includes the Indianapolis Recorder and <u><a href="https://www.sideeffectspublicmedia.org/" class="Link" target="_blank">Side Effects Public Media</a></u>, a public health news initiative based at WFYI. Contact Farah at fyousry@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: <u><a href="https://twitter.com/farah_yousrym?lang=en" class="Link" target="_blank">@Farah_Yousrym</a></u>.</i> <div class="fullattribution">Copyright 2025 Side Effects Public Media</div></p>

Tracking Code

Or, if you have already re-created the story in your own CMS, just add this tracking code to the bottom:

<iframe src="https://publicinput.com/display/?assetId=146089&embedId=61862" height="425" frameborder="0" id="embed61862" style="width: 100%" scrolling="yes"></iframe>