Dr. Broderick saw me when I had just turned 65 and my Medicare “intake interview” identified my life-long sleep issues as a problem to be investigated medically. I had never considered my sleep problem to be a health issue — I assumed it was just my “nature” and my “bad luck”. I had studied and consequently practiced good sleep hygiene for many years — but to no avail. So I just soldiered on and never even thought about reporting it to my primary care physician.
From the very start, Dr. Broderick showed much respect and empathy towards me. After listening to my history, she allowed me to skip the usual first step of keeping a sleep diary for several weeks because she trusted my story of having followed good sleep hygiene without results. Instead she immediately scheduled me for a sleep study. When the results showed I had moderate-severe sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome, she made me feel really comfortable with my new diagnosis. She did this partly by sharing some personal stories that helped me understand it was not so unusual for someone with my profile to have these diagnoses. She also helped me look forward to the life – transforming results I could expect from using a CPAP machine and taking medications for my restless legs syndrome.
Finally, she made sure I was issued a newly launched CPAP machine designed just for women.
So my lasting impression of Dr. Broderick is that she really treated me as an individual, she respected me and went out of her way to ensure I had a positive experience as I adjusted to my new diagnoses. And of course she was also a competent practitioner. She impressed me with her patience when I asked lots of question, which I tend to do. She was current on the latest research results and standards of care in the field of sleep medicine.
All of this — her sensitive approach and her clinical competence put me on a good course at the very beginning of this “better sleep journey” and I will be forever grateful to her for this.