Coincidence or Destiny? For this Caldwell Graduate, Unexpected Turns Lead to a Career in Medicine

“When one door closes, another opens.” It’s an expression we often lean on for encouragement when things don’t turn out the way we hope. For Bryan Broderick, the sentiment carried something far more profound.

The truth is, Broderick didn’t really see Caldwell University in his future. His older brothers were already well-established at Caldwell by then, both on and off the soccer field. Broderick envisioned something different. He was, at the time, being recruited by Bucknell University for their soccer program, and he was pretty sure he was on the right path.

Until he wasn’t.

“The cost of attending Bucknell was way out of my family’s range. I wasn’t sure what to do. All I really knew was that I wanted to play soccer.”

As chance would have it, not only did the head soccer coaches at Bucknell and Caldwell know each other, they were brothers. It took only a few phone calls to land Broderick a spot as midfielder on the Caldwell Cougars, with enough scholarships to make his undergraduate education possible.

Choosing a major was another matter. Broderick drifted into the business program. “A good 75% of my teammates were business majors, so I figured that’s what I should do too. But you know how important the liberal arts are at Caldwell, and that was a good thing. Early on, I was introduced to a wide variety of subjects. In the spring semester of my freshman year, I took an anatomy and physiology course for non-biology majors. I just loved it. I couldn’t study enough for this course.”

Broderick’s anatomy and physiology professor quickly saw his potential. In addition to teaching this particular course, the professor was the university’s pre-med advisor as well. Still, he didn’t quite believe her when she first suggested he could have a career in medicine.

Before he knew it, Caldwell was helping to arrange introductions to faculty at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) and the Northeast Regional Alliance (NERA). He enrolled in NERA’s MedPrep Program, a three-year summer enrichment program for underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students interested in the medical professions.

Broderick graduated magna cum laude from Caldwell in 2011, with a B.A. in biology. The honors he earned along the way reflect his love of both the sciences and soccer. In 2010 he received the Frederick W. Neumann II Award for meritorious work in the sciences. His project, “Analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” was awarded credit “with distinction.” For four years running, Broderick earned Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference All-Academic Team honors as well as the Division II Athletics Directors Association Academic Achievement Award.

His years at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School were equally distinguished. He was a four-year recipient of the Riverview Medical Center Lester Simon, M.D. Scholarship, and in 2017 he earned the NJMS Dr. Harold J. Jeghers Future Internist Award, which honors a fourth-year student for academic excellence, skill, dedication, and interest in the pursuit of the field of internal medicine.

Broderick graduated with his M.D. in 2017. His career quickly skyrocketed when was accepted into the residency program at Johns Hopkins. “I couldn’t believe it. The program is so competitive. I’m thrilled to be part of such a well-respected institution.”

Broderick is grateful for the support he has received over the years from mentors, scholarship programs and—of course—his family. He has spent plenty of time,  “paying it forward,” volunteering to provide food, clothing, and holiday gifts for needy families in Monmouth County; organizing Caldwell University’s Midnight Run to deliver food, blankets and other items to people living on the street in New York City; and working at the Student Family Health Care Center in Newark, a student-run free clinic for the uninsured. These days, he is mentoring other hopeful future doctors.

By choosing internal medicine as his focus, Broderick will be able choose from a wide range of sub-specialties. “I’m liking cardiology and pulmonary critical care,” he notes. There’s a good chance that whatever door opens for him now will be the right one.