When Alex Smith went down with one of the most frightening injuries in National Football League (NFL) history — an injury so severe that many feared not only for his career, but his very life — it took an extraordinary medical team to help him recover.
At the forefront of that medical team was Dr. Robin West — an orthopedic surgeon and alum of the class of 1993. Her path to that historical achievement began with a simple first-grade assignment: tracing an object at home.
While other kids decided to focus on drawing leaves or coloring their favorite cartoon characters, West found something a bit more unique: a knee figure she came across in her friend’s house that belonged to her friend’s father, an orthopedic surgeon. That small spark of childhood curiosity was the seed that would, decades later, blossom into one of the most influential careers in orthopedics and sports medicine.
The spark of curiosity: A childhood fascination with anatomy
West always knew that she wanted to be doctor from an early age, even though her parents are engineers and had nothing to do with medicine. In first grade, she asked her mother for a Grey’s Anatomy book for Christmas. Once receiving the book, she became fascinated with it and would spend countless nights carefully examining all of the details of the many pictures inside.
This was definitely not what Santa would typically find on a first-grade wishlist.
From the pool to the training room: A turning point at Hopkins
West grew up in sunny Santa Monica, Calif., where she swam competitively throughout all of her high school years. She would go on to attend Hopkins from 1989–1993 and was part of the women’s NCAA Division III team. During her sophomore year at Hopkins, West became sick with mononucleosis, and she was not allowed to swim.
However, West’s love for sports and competitive passion would not suppress her drive to contribute to her school’s athletics.
“I started working in the athletic training room, and I got to work with the athletes and the orthopedic surgeons,” West said in an interview with The News-Letter. “I went to a few of the surgeries, and that's when I knew orthopedics was really my interest.”
Throughout the rest of her time at Hopkins, she would continue in this role, gaining experience in keeping athletes healthy and safe.
Discovering a calling: Medical school and the pull toward orthopedic surgery
Immediately moving on from her years in Baltimore, West relocated to Washington D.C., where she attended the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences from 1993–1997.
By the end of medical school, students have to decide what they want to specialize in. Their future is shaped by the residency they pursue, and for West, it was time to decide whether her lifelong passion for orthopedics would become her career.
“I loved everything in medical school. I loved everything I did,” West said. “I knew I liked working with my hands; I’m kind of black and white; I like to fix things, see what I did.”
This ultimately led her to conclude that orthopaedics was a natural draw.
Redefining passion: Residency and the dilemma of sports medicine
Orthopedic surgery is a competitive specialty. Only a select group of the top-ranked medical school students are admitted, and even then, it has the lowest percentage of female residents. A 2019 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons survey listed that only about 6% of board-certified orthopedic surgeons are women.
Nevertheless, West was determined to defy the odds and stayed local in D.C., completing her orthopedic surgery residency at George Washington University from 1997–2002.
By the end of your residency years, physicians enter a fellowship: the final determinant of what their specialty will be in. In the long journey to becoming a board-certified physician, West’s hopes of a career in sports medicine were only a few years away. But during West’s residency years, she started to shift away from her previous sports medicine dreams.
She admits, “It's funny. When I was a resident, I initially didn't think I would like sports medicine because it's a lot of the kind of whiny athletes. You'll find somebody says, ‘Oh, I run 100 miles a week, and my knee sort of hurts.’”
During this time, she became interested in other areas, most notably trauma surgery.
“I would go with my trauma surgeons and see all these big, bad things, and I love the big, huge surgeries and all the blood, and I thought maybe that's what I want to be,” she said. “Ultimately, I really thought about what I liked. I like being challenged, and I think that athletes really challenge you because you have to do everything perfectly to get them back to the level of play.”
Her thought process of loving to take on the thrill of challenge is what led her to really like sports medicine. As time progressed, she realized that the sports medicine field resembled what she loved about playing sports.
“[Sports medicine is] a team approach. It's working with the athletic trainers, the physical therapists, a sports nutritionist, and the sports psychologists. It's a team approach, and it really reminded me of being back and playing sports myself,” she explained.
The Pittsburgh chapter: A game-changing fellowship and career breakthrough
After four years of medical school and five years of orthopedic residency in the nation’s capital, West headed to the city of black and yellow, Pittsburgh, Pa. — a city that would change her life and the trajectory of her career. Pittsburgh is enshrined with deep ties to football, as it houses one of the United States’ most iconic sports teams: the Pittsburgh Steelers.
West was in Pittsburgh to complete a one-year sports medicine and shoulder fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine under the mentorship of Dr. James P. Bradley — the head team physician and Orthopaedic Surgeon of the Pittsburgh Steelers since 1991 — and the late and legendary medical figure, orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Freddie H. Fu.
COURTESY OF ED THOMPSON
After completing her fellowship, Fu offered West a position to work as a faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and on the medical staff of the University of Pittsburgh sports teams.
Later on, Bradley would offer West a role on the Pittsburgh Steelers medical staff as an assistant team physician. Bradley told Stephania Bell — injury analyst of ESPN — in her article “Is Robin West the most influential person in pro sports medicine?” that “[West] was the best candidate for the job, and that she has "the sports medicine gene," a trait that "some people have it and some people don't... And you can tell right away with doctors."
West did not expect her career to take this turn in any way when she first arrived in Pittsburgh. She wasn’t even a Steelers fan before arriving in the city, although perhaps fatefully, her husband has always been a die-hard fan.
“I did not come in thinking that’s what I wanted to do, and so I actually thought about it for a little while, and I wasn’t sure if I was actually going to do it. But I decided to do it, and I think it was a great decision,” she said.
Making history on the sidelines: West’s impact with the Steelers and beyond
During her 12 years in Pittsburgh, West’s medical care in the Steel City had become intertwined with what the people of Pittsburgh take pride in most: sports.
Along with working at Pittsburgh’s renowned medical system, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), West worked as an assistant team physician for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2003–2014, as head team physician for the University of Pittsburgh Men’s Basketball Team from 2003–2014, at Carnegie Mellon University athletics from 2003–2014, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds from 2004–2008 and the University of Pittsburgh Wrestling, Gymnastics, and Men’s & Women’s Swimming and Diving teams from 2011–2014.
Striving to break down more gender barriers, upon her appointment to the Steelers’ medical staff, West became the second female orthopedic surgeon to work in an NFL medical staff after Dr. Leigh Ann Curl of the Baltimore Ravens.
West cherishes her 12 years working with the Steelers (along with her two Super Bowl rings) and now considers herself a part of Steelers Nation as a fan. Her time working with the Steelers will never be forgotten nor underappreciated by the organization and players.
Super Bowl Champion and 2021 Pro Football Inductee Alan Faneca, who played his illustrious career with the Steelers from 1998–2007, reflected on his received medical care with the Steelers, saying, “West was always helpful and made sure to understand all of the particulars of an event to better assess the injury.”
A teammate of Faneca’s, Ryan Clark, who played for the Steelers from 2006–2013, recalls West as one of the few figures in sports medicine who truly made him feel seen.
“I was always most comfortable talking with West because it felt like one of the few judgment-free zones within the NFL medical staffs.”
Another member of the Super Bowl winning team, as well as Pro Football Hall of Famer, Jerome Bettis also experienced West’s compassionate medical care firsthand.
“She can kind of smile in a way that is calming,” Bettis told Stephania Bell of ESPN, emphasizing how important that demeanor is when injured athletes search for reassurance in such a high-stress moment and sport. “The role is exactly that. It’s a role. It doesn’t have a male or female face attached to it. It has qualifications... and [West] checks all the boxes. If I was running an organization, she'd be my pick.”
West will forever be a Pittsburgh Steeler legend.
Chasing new Heights: A new chapter begins
Even though West was very happy in Pittsburgh with her career and life and “was really not looking for a job,” she left Pittsburgh because “Inova, the healthcare system [in Northern Virginia], their chief medical officer had reached out to [her] about potentially trying to build a sports medicine practice.”
Inova Health System is an institution right outside Washington, D.C., in Falls Church, Va., with five hospitals and five ambulatory surgery centers. Inova was looking to expand into sports medicine, and were looking to hire and build their own practice within.
West knew that leaving could pose some risks, as she would be in charge of growing her own program and taking the fall if it didn’t work out, but she’s always been ready for the challenge.
“I was 12 years into my career, and I was thinking maybe I’ll look at this and consider this. I had young kids, and I was trying to figure out if I should make the move now or later if I’m going to make the move,” she said
In an interview with the University of Virginia (UVA) Orthopaedic Surgery on YouTube, “UVA Ortho Grand Rounds with Dr. Robin West,” she says that Bradley tried to convince her to stay at UPMC: “He promised me that I would be the queen if I stayed in Pittsburgh. And I told him I have the chance to be the king in Virginia. So I seized this opportunity.”
West was headed back to the DMV.
Building a legacy: Leading sports medicine innovation in Virginia
As the chairman and founder of Inova Sports Medicine, West has found immense success in her work so far — 30 physicians have since been hired into her division.
She is now the president of the Inova Musculoskeletal Service Line, a position she’s held since 2019 that comes with many responsibilities. She states that there are many employed surgeons within the practice, and other surgeons who operate at the hospital. She oversee over 200 surgeons, and there are over 30 employed surgeons in her group.
West's work now has changed a bit, as she says, “It’s kind of a different role; my role has changed and morphed,” but she loves it, explaining that “now we have seven offices, so it’s been fun to build this and continue to build and grow our department.”
Dominating the DMV: Shaping professional sports medicine in Washington D.C.
With her return to the DMV, West became the Lead Team Physician in 2015 of the Washington Nationals Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise, as well as the Head Team physician, Director of Sports Medicine, and Head Orthopedic Surgeon from 2016–2021 of the NFL Washington Commanders (previously the Washington Redskins).
COURTESY OF DR. ROBIN WEST
“I talked to the [Commanders] early on before I moved, and so I got to work with them and the Nationals, and all this stuff kind of came in together, and it wound up being a really great opportunity that I’m glad I did,” she said.
Empowering the generations and breaking barriers: West’s enduring legacy as a role model
West West is the first woman to be a head team physician of an NFL team and the lead physician of an MLB team simultaneously.
The field of orthopedic surgery, along with sports medicine, is one of the most male-dominated fields in medicine, and throughout West’s career, she has overcome those structural barriers. She has proven that no matter where you come from, what race or gender you are, the field of medicine is and should be for all, paving the way for so many more to be encouraged to become physicians and follow in her footsteps.
COURTESY OF DR. ROBIN WEST
When asked how she feels about serving as a role model to so many, she says, “I enjoy being a role model, and if there’s anything we can do, people always say that if you can keep climbing higher, then bring someone along with you. I love the opportunity to open a door that could potentially be closed for someone and to give them that opportunity.”
She goes on to add, “I think that any young girls who see another woman on a different level that maybe they never saw someone in, a female firefighter or a policewoman or whatever it is, and then they’re like, ‘Oh, I can actually do that.’ And so it opens a lot of opportunities and ideas for young girls.”
West’s historic career is one of a kind with the remarkable accolades, achievements and roles she has to her name, and she’s nowhere near done yet. Her career has paved a path for girls and minorities all over the country who are interested in pursuing a career in orthopedics or sports medicine.
West is, without a doubt, one of the most influential female medical figures in the entire world, and a role model to all.
