Broderick: All in for a Healthy St. Ambrose


10/06/2016

Dan Broderick '82, MD, is just hours away from a night shift at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., where he'll trade one of those picture-perfect coastal sunsets for a dark windowless area in the Neuroradiology Reading Room. He will be prescribing imaging protocols, reviewing neuro CT and MR exams, dictating reports, and recommending medical care for patients he may never even meet.

Although he's often found huddled in front of a bank of computer monitors rather than next to a patient, don't think for a second that the person whose health and wellbeing is at issue isn't at the forefront of his mind. Always.

From a very young age, Broderick knew that he wanted a career in the sciences. "There's an assumption that if you like science, you will become a physician," he said from his home after a day of running errands. "In high school, I became interested in the brain-how the mind makes you human, and also its connection to your heart and soul."

After a medical school rotation in Neurosurgery, however, "I realized I didn't really like the surgery part," he said. "It just wasn't for me."

It was the imaging that really intrigued him. "When I met a group of radiologists, when I saw what they do and how they do it, I knew these were my people."

That may be due, in part, to the approach to the art behind the science Broderick was taught while a student at St. Ambrose. That's where professors like Richard Legg, PhD, professor emeritus of biology, taught him that what he says-and how he says it-is critical to patient care. "Many of my patients and their families only know me by the report," Broderick said. "Words matter."

So, too, do values. First founded with the help of the Sisters of Saint Francis in 1883 after a tornado hit Rochester, Minn., Mayo Clinic lives out a culture in which the needs of the patient always come first. "We are always asking ourselves, ‘How do we work together to take care of our patient?'"

It is a similar question he asks himself in his role as a member of the St. Ambrose Board of Trustees, a position he at first turned down because, whenever he accepts a leadership role, "It is never a qualified ‘yes.' I'm going to be all in. And at that time in my career I couldn't be."

That changed shortly before Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD, became president of the university. He said "yes" just before the start of her tenure, and his service on the board has sparked in him not just a stronger passion for his alma mater, but also a renewed appreciation for the way the university supported him professionally, and personally.

"I have come to see how St. Ambrose impacted my life in so many positive ways," he said. "I want to be sure it is around to have that same impact on students tomorrow."

For Broderick, that has manifested in helping to guide and strengthen the university's health sciences programs, and taking an active role in the fundraising campaign for the new Wellness and Recreation facility.

"Through the campaign, and this new facility, the board is demonstrating our intention to offer students a well-rounded experience," he said. "A St. Ambrose education is not just about rigorous academics taught in the values of the Catholic intellectual tradition. It recognizes that health and wellness plays an important part in nurturing the mind, body and spirit.

"If we are going to be honest with our mission, then that means educating students holistically. That means this new building, and all that will happen as a result of it."

This understanding makes his role on the board and the campaign steering committee pretty easy, he added. "At this point in my life, I only say ‘yes' to things I truly believe in. Things that have value. St. Ambrose gets my time, energy and financial support because they are deliberate with their minds and hearts, meaning what they say and doing what they say."

He paused. "It is a joy to help see them through on their promise."

News
news

Addy Nelson ’23 was born with an entrepreneur’s spirit. With her parents owning the bowling alley in her hometown of Gregory, South Dakota—the same place she perfected her game to earn a scholarship to St. Ambrose University—she learned early to be innovative, customer-focused and business-minded.

Read More About Innovative App-lication...

News
Maggie (Verdun) Bohnert '15, '16 MOT
News
news

At SAU, hard work = recognition. Here is a list of full-time students who were named to the St. Ambrose University Dean's List for the Fall 2023 term. These students earned a GPA of 3.5 or higher (on a 4.0 scale).

Read More About Fall 2023...

So, what's next?

Are you ready to take the next step? Click on the visit button below to learn more about our virtual and in-person visit options.