Justice Marin, a third-year medical student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, has been an athlete for most of his life.
Growing up in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, he participated in a variety of sports—from wrestling to track and field—but ultimately committed to lacrosse, playing both club and NCAA as an undergraduate at SUNY Purchase.
The hardest part? The injuries.
“Anytime I got hurt, I couldn’t fully contribute to my teams,” Marin said. “Those experiences gave me a personal appreciation for the role of orthopaedic surgeons, sports medicine physicians and rehabilitation specialists early on. They helped me recover and return to competition.”
Marin paid that care forward while attending the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp this summer and working with the team’s medical staff as part of the NFL Diversity in Sports Medicine Pipeline Initiative. In the program, launched in 2022, medical students in the program complete a clinical rotation with NFL club medical staff, including orthopaedic physicians, athletic trainers, dietitians and mental health clinicians, across the league to gain basic medical knowledge and exposure to patient care in sports medicine.