LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The National Football League is trying to encourage medical school students from diverse backgrounds to consider sports medicine careers.
Gemma Lagasca, a first-generation Filipino American student from the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV will shadow the Raiders this fall. She is the second student to participate in the program.
“I have always loved sports,” Lagasca said. “It would be amazing if I could have the opportunity to work at the highest level, whether it be the NFL or any other sports team.”
Lagasca, a Reno native, and a fourth-year medical student is one of 29 students chosen across 21 medical schools nationwide.
“It is amazing, I mean how many medical students get to say they get to do this,” she said.
The students will be participating in the NFL’s Diversity in Sports Medicine Pipeline Initiative, which launched in 2022. Each student will complete a one-month rotation with their assigned NFL club.
“I am hoping to learn from everyone on the team, I know I get a lot of time with the sports medicine but I think there is something to learn from the dieticians, athletic trainers, the physical therapists, and I think learning something from all of them is what is going to make me a better physician,” she added.
The program aims to diversify and broaden the world of sports medicine.
“I would one not have imagined that I would get into this program to kind of see the future ahead and see the possibilities that I might have, I was excited just to get into medical school, my parents again, immigrants from the Philippines, being pushed by them, and make them proud,” Lagasca said.
Lagasca says after she graduates and completes her residency she wants to practice in Nevada.
The NFL says it hopes to expand the program to include physician assistants, trainers, therapists, nutritionists and behavioral health clinicians.
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