The Doctor Broad, A Mafia Love Story discussion with author Dr. Barbara Roberts

Barbara Roberts, MD will be speaking at CBD on Sunday February 25, at 3pm to discuss her book, The Doctor Broad. Dr. Barbara Roberts, who was the first female adult cardiologist in Rhode Island, a prominent physician who may be best remembered as the cardiologist to the mob. It’s a story she tells in her book, The Doctor Broad, A Mafia Love Story. A 1965 graduate from Barnard College, and 1968 graduate from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, she did her residency at Yale New Haven Hospital. She did her cardiology training at Brigham & Women’s Hospital. She’s also been active in significant social causes, including the pro-choice movement before Roe v Wade, helping to found the Women’s National Abortion Action Coalition (WONAAC), and in the anti-Vietnam War movement. A staff physician at Planned Parenthood for many years, she continues on the voluntary faculty at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, where she is an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine Emerita. Founder of the Women’s Cardiac Center at the Miriam Hospital in Providence, she is author of How To Keep From Breaking Your Heart: What Every Woman Needs to Know About Cardiovascular Disease; The Truth About Statins: Risks and Alternatives to Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs; and The Doctor Broad: A Mafia Love Story.   The Doctor Broad, A Mafia Love Story: The story of a Catholic school girl from a working class family who became the physician, the defender of one Mafioso and the mistress of another. This memoir is a tale of motherhood, political activism, controversy, heartbreak and survival; tracing one woman’s trajectory against the backdrop of America’s 20th century upheavals. We encourage attendees to read the book prior to Barbara Roberts discussion. It’s available on Amazon and the RI Library.