Linda Brodsky, M.D.

BIOGRAPHY

I am a woman who likes challenges. I have spent my life believing that I can and will make a difference.

My early life experiences during college and medical school in predominantly women's institutions, Bryn Mawr College and the (Women's) Medical College of Pennsylvania, drove my career choices and my belief that I could "have it all". I chose to become a surgeon in an academic setting so my clinical work would translate into research that would benefit patients beyond those who came to me in my practice. I chose to take care of children, the most vulnerable members of our society. Advocating for their health needs is a major portion of what pediatric specialists do.

As I climbed the ladder of success in my chosen field, I developed leadership skills and found creative outlets in teaching, writing, speaking, and advocacy. I founded and led the first Center for Pediatric Quality at a Children's Hospital and developed unique programs for treating children with special needs, particularly feeding and swallowing problems. As I thought I was reaching the pinnacle of my career and could become a leader amongst surgeons in my field, I discovered that I was paid less than my male co-workers and believed that I had faced other forms of gender discrimination. I spent the next 10 years fighting in order to right what I learned is a pervasive and pernicious problem for many women in medicine. I became a litigant in a federal lawsuit against my employers, two large and powerful institutions. My journey of litigation has come to an end but I want to make sure that what I have learned will benefit those women with dreams but who are faced with problems of pay inequity, gender stereotyping, and gender discrimination.

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MILESTONES

1974

Graduated from Bryn Mawr College with honors

1979

Graduated from the Medical College of Pennsylvania

1983

Complete Residency Training at the Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

1984

Appointed Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology, SUNY Buffalo.

1986

Appointed Medical Director, Department of Speech, Language & Hearing, The Women & Children's Hospital of Buffalo, Robert Warner Rehabilitation Center

1987

Appointed Co-Director, Department of Pediatric Otolaryngology and Medical Director, Department of Speech, Language & Hearing, The Women & Children's Hospital of Buffalo, Robert Warner Rehabilitation Center.

1990

Granted promotion with tenure to Associate Professor of Otolaryngology and Pediatrics, SUNY Buffalo.

1994

Appointed Director of Pediatric Otolaryngology, Children’s Hospital of Buffalo.

1996

Founds and becomes Director, Center for Pediatric Quality, Children’s Hospital of Buffalo.

1997

Begins to question compensation fairness and gender equity at the University and the Hospital.

2000

Files gender discrimination claims with EEOC against SUNY and Kaleida Health.

2001

Files gender discrimination claims against SUNY and Kaleida Health.