She described them as growing up in a "culture of Talmudic scholars" and said that there was an emphasis on intellectual pursuits in her family that influenced her for the rest of her career.

[2] Earning an undergraduate degree in histology and embryology from Cornell University, Brodman was hoping to go to medical school, but she was not accepted.

[5] After twelve years at the NLM, Brodman left to become Associate Professor of Medical History at the Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) in 1961.

She also authored several biographical papers on historical figures in medicine and she advocated for the development and expansion of the MLA's oral history project.

[7] Brodman traveled abroad as a consultant and lecturer; she taught librarianship at Japan's Keio University and took a trip sponsored by the World Health Organization to evaluate family planning practices in India.

[11] She served on the executive council of the American Association for the History of Medicine and chaired the Biomedical Communication Study Section of the National Institutes of Health.

[12] In 1971, the MLA honored Brodman with the Marcia C. Noyes Award, which "recognizes a career that has resulted in lasting, outstanding contributions to medical librarianship".

[12] Brodman received the MLA's Gottlieb Award (now known as the Erich Meyerhoff Prize) in 1977 in recognition of the best unpublished paper related to the history of medicine.

[14] In 1986, the MLA created the Estelle Brodman Award to honor outstanding mid-career academic medical librarians.