David Gallegos, NATA leader and advocate for underserved athletes, joins us to rethink one of sports medicine’s most routine practices, the pre participation physical exam (PPE). Rather than treating the PPE as a checkbox, Gallegos sees it as a powerful touchpoint for preventive health, education, and relationship building, especially in communities with limited access to care.

We discuss ways to integrate mental health screening, nutrition counseling, and injury prevention education into PPEs, transforming them from a formality into a real service for athletes and families. Recorded for release on GivingTuesday, this episode is also a call for listeners to support AT Last’s PPE programming, which provides free and enhanced physicals to student athletes from underserved and underrepresented communities.

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Artwork by Jason Eisenberg 

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Music by Willie B the Ichiban Don

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Production / Engineering / Editing / by Gerson Sandoval

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Guest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-gallegos-nm/

X: https://x.com/crucesaggie?lang=en

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