Specialty: Pediatric Endocrinology
Hospital: Vassar Brothers Medical Center
Medical Group: Caremount Medical
Special Expertise: Diabetes, Pubertal Disorders, Growth/Development Disorders
As chair of pediatrics at Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Jill Brodsky, MD, FAAP, established a program to enhance and integrate care of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) patients, complete with family education. She serves as medical director of two regional diabetes summer camps, which teach self-care in the context of “S’mores and swimming” to normalize diabetes.
What’s rewarding about practicing in the Hudson Valley?
At Caremount Medical and Vassar Brothers Medical Center, they have been supportive in the development of both outstanding outpatient programs of highly specialized care not typically found at the community level. I also love being integrated into this community. To reduce the stigma at school, we educate families on their rights, and teach school districts to provide accommodations so the day doesn’t revolve around diabetes. I’ve trained football coaches, faculty chaperoning field trips, and school nurses in several counties.
How do you define success?
For me, it’s giving a child with diabetes the tools to thrive in school and in their social lives. I have patients self-managing their diabetes who are Division 1-level college athletes.
What’s the future of diabetes care?
Our practice is a research site for TrialNet for a clinical trial that seeks to answer how diabetes begins on a cellular level. We’re able to enroll high-risk children and adults in annual screenings that may lead to medication trials that are completely free to them.
Tell us about your work with patients struggling with gender identity.
Transgender medicine has evolved over the past decade, but we’ve had a shortage of pediatric endocrinologists who felt comfortable working with patients. I’m the only person between Albany and New York City to help transgender patients medically transition; I’m now working with 35 families. In this population, there’s an astronomical rate of suicide and self-harm among those who can’t access care; so we had to bring this service to our community.