From Athletes to Doctors: Why College Athletes Make Excellent Physicians

My parents were Nigerian immigrants who came to the United States in their late teens and early twenties. They had no financial resources. They had no familial resources. What they did have was a Nigerian Igbo spirit, defined by a relentless sense of discipline and persistence. Because of that, they worked their way out of impoverished East Cleveland, Ohio and built successful careers as a nurse and podiatrist while raising four children, of which I am the oldest.

My parents’ drive was what the American Dream was made of, but for us kids, it was more of an affliction. They demanded unrelenting obedience and our mastery of all things math and reading. I needed a way to get out the house as early and often as possible. Athletics provided me that outlet.

I started wrestling and running track at 13 years old. The discipline and persistence handed down from my parents fueled my competitive spirit. Sports were my opportunity to realize there was more to life than academics, my opportunity to breathe and relieve some pressure. But that didn’t last very long. My parents wouldn’t allow me to compete if I didn’t make good grades. Even a “B” was insufficient if they felt I could do better. At the time, we didn’t realize the hand sports would play in achieving my goal of becoming a physician. It was necessary, of course, for me to perform academically to gain the skills and qualifications necessary to attend and graduate medical school, but athletics instilled qualities in me that transferred easily from the track to the clinic.

Today, I am the director of a hospitalist group. Knowing what I know now, it is clear to me that not only do student-athletes have the skills to succeed in medicine, they spend their whole lives perfecting and testing those skills in the field of competition. Besides sheer grit, to succeed in sports, athletes must embody:

·      Flexibility

·      Team-centered focus

·      Control under pressure

·      Time management

·      Emotional awareness

These are the exact qualities we look for in medical school candidates and what patients look for when choosing a physician. With this in mind, my intention is clear: I want to help strengthen and encourage the pathway from student-athlete to medical professional. By doing so, not only would we make a career in medicine a more viable option for athletes who are often told such a goal is out of their reach due to their athletic requirements, but we would also contribute to the diversification of medical professionals, causing better outcomes for marginalized demographics.

Collegiate student-athletes are already an accomplished group. Less than 8% of all high school athletes go on to play in college.[1] Less than 2% of those 8% go on to play professionally.[2] Approximately 0.29% of Americans are doctors[3], signifying another elite group. It makes sense that those who understand the sacrifice and mindset it takes to succeed in one could transfer that sacrifice and mindset to the other. And while some studies report that student-athletes thrive post-graduation, others show that during their time in university, student-athletes tend to lag slightly behind their non-athletic counterparts. This suggests that without the responsibilities that come along with athletics and the ability to have a singular focus, athletes would soar in the medical world.

Why Athletes?

The Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis composed a study to see which of their ENT residency candidates became the most successful faculty-ranked clinicians. Faculty ratings consider practice-based learning, interpersonal and communication skills, good judgment, empathy, patient care, and medical knowledge. Initial metrics of interest included test scores, grades, and letters of recommendation, but they found these metrics were not the “x factor.” It turns out that those with the highest faculty ratings were those with “established excellence in a team sport.”[4] Why is that? The traits that point towards such success are time management, teamwork, and the ability to juggle athletics and academics and excel at both. Reportedly, the main complaint of med school students is the sheer volume of material they’re responsible for learning in short periods of time. Student-athletes practice 20 hours a week, attend study hall and team meetings, see specialists for injuries, and travel heavily during the season, all while taking at least a 12-hour minimum class load. Since most college athletes have been student-athletes since middle school, time management is as natural to them as sliding into a uniform.

In addition to time management, both athletes and doctors must be able to work with others for the sake of a common goal despite personal differences or backgrounds. My junior year of high school, my family moved from East Cleveland, OH to Solon, OH, so naturally, I had to transfer schools. What made the move especially difficult was that I’d just won a state championship in track and achieved rookie of the year status in wrestling at East Cleveland. When we moved to Solon, I went from the big fish in a small pond to minnow in the gulf. Initially, I struggled to adjust to the increased level of competition, but as the year progressed, I learned more about my teammates, my sports, and myself. As a result, I found success both as an individual and with my team. Similarly, both in undergrad and in medical school, I had to learn to work with all the different personality dynamics that come with groups, as medicine is a team sport. Let me explain.

The medical field has many subspecialties, case managers, social workers, nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants, therapists, environmental services, MAs, nurses’ aides, and techs, all working together to provide the best possible service to the patient. We all have a common goal, but we’re not all the same. Teammates will see life from different vantage points. Colleagues will disagree. Patients will protest. The ability to consider various perspectives with a cool head for the greater good (and in medicine, for the sake of patients whose health is at stake) is paramount in the medical space. Diversity in perspectives is expected, therefore, diversity in position should reflect those varying perspectives. Former athletes are proven leaders in the workforce, which is why recruiters in many different fields seek them out.

A 2015 study by espnW and EY revealed that “80% of female Fortune 500 executives played competitive sports at some time in their lives, and that 65% of those on the 2017 Fortune List of Most Powerful Women played sports competitively in either high school, college, or both.” Leadership skills and personalities that shine in group-oriented activities give athletes a leg up when applying for programs at institutions that list such activities as requirements. Now that we see the value student-athletes can bring to medicine, what’s the next step in getting them from their school colors to a white coat?

The NCAA has partnered with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to encourage student-athletes to lean towards STEM majors. These athletes often pursue majors that aren’t as challenging because of the intense demands in the classroom and their sports. However, this partnership would encourage athletic directors and coaches to become more flexible, allowing more student-athletes to pursue challenging STEM fields. This move could be especially beneficial at universities that have strong athletic traditions as well as strong medical schools. In such cases, it could be as easy as connecting coaches with academic advisors to work with the athletes towards this goal. In addition to giving student-athletes a more practical path into medicine, this strategy could increase diversity in medicine as well.

Many Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) boast strong sports programs and medical schools. And while 2020 saw an unprecedented spike in Black first-year med school students, only 5% of the doctors in the country are Black.[5] Why does it matter? Because patients experience better health outcomes when they see doctors who look like them. The National Bureau for Economic Research reported that "62% of black men with a black doctor agreed to cholesterol tests as part of a health check, compared to 36% of black men with a white or Asian doctor.[6]” These numbers reflect a trust issue with a deep, insufficiently addressed history and carry serious implications.

The positives of this partnership would be tremendous. In 2021, the AAMC stated “the United States could see an estimated shortage of between 37,800 and 124,000 physicians by 2034, including shortfalls in both primary and specialty care.” We need doctors, and an ideal place to find them is in athletic departments across the country. Because of their commitment to teamwork, leadership, and collaboration, when athletes move from the playing field to the medical field, we all win.

—Dr. George Ilodi

[1]https://scholarshipstats.com/varsityodds#:~:text=Overall%20a%20little%20over%207,at%20NCAA%20Division%20I%20schools.

[2] https://www.nfhs.org/media/886012/recruiting-fact-sheet-web.pdf

[3] https://www.unitedstatesnow.org/what-percent-of-the-us-population-do-doctors-comprise.htm#:~:text=Approximately%200.29%25%20of%20Americans%20are,one%2Dthird%20of%201%25.

[4] Chole RA, Ogden MA. Predictors of Future Success in Otolaryngology Residency Applicants. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2012;138(8):707–712. doi:10.1001/archoto.2012.1374

[5] https://www.npr.org/2022/01/15/1073331377/more-black-students-are-headed-to-medical-school-but-finances-are-still-a-major-#:~:text=Transcript-,Medical%20schools%20are%20reporting%20a%20record%20increase%20in%20Black%20students,the%20country%20in%20record%20numbers.

[6] https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/do-student-athletes-make-good-doctors