WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — A fourth-year Wake Forest University School of Medicine student has started a one-month clinical rotation with the Carolina Panthers. 

Alexis Restrepo is working under the supervision of team physicians to gain experience in what it’s like caring for the players. 

It’s valuable knowledge for the M.D. student who works toward her goal of becoming an orthopedic surgeon.  

“This is going to be a super multidisciplinary kind of program where I’m going to get to interact with not only orthopedic surgeons, but also athletic trainers and physical therapists, and primary care, sports medicine folks, and so I’m going to kind of get a full picture of what it looks like to get these players healthy and to get them performing at their best,” she said.  

Restrepo is one of 32 students selected to participate in the NFL Diversity in Sports Medicine Pipeline Initiative. 

“I’m excited to be involved in this program and to kind of make sure that other women and other Latinas after me know that they can do whatever they put their minds to and that they could be in my shoes,” Restrepo said. 

“They can be at the level of the senior positions that I’m going to be working with one day, and I think that setting the stage kind of gives people someone to look up to and something to strive for, and so I’m really excited to be in this position, and I hope to mentor people after me.”

The NFL Diversity in Sports Medicine Pipeline Initiative is in its second year.  

Participants were chosen from 19 medical schools across the US.