Dr. Schmitz graduated from the Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in 2004. During residency at the University of North Carolina, where she was chief resident, she served as the academic affairs representative on the EMRA Board of Directors from 2005-2007. She was an active core faculty member and served as the assistant curriculum director for the Wilford Hall Medical Center and Brooke Army Medical Center Emergency Medicine Residency Program from 2007-2009. Dr. Schmitz was an assistant professor at the Georgetown University/Washington Hospital Center Residency Program from 2009-2011 and won numerous teaching and resident mentoring awards. She served as an assistant professor and active core faculty member at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Emergency Medicine Residency Program from 2011-2012 before joining the University of Texas Health Science Program in San Antonio as an associate program director.
“What amazed me was the amount of respect I was given and the voice I was afforded while a part of the organization,” Dr. Schmitz said. “As part of EMRA, I could walk into a meeting with CORD or ACEP, which were full of accomplished senior physicians with far more experience than I had, yet I could suggest an idea that people took very seriously and actually implemented. That unique opportunity to represent residents all across the country – and share their voice – was an invaluable learning experience for me, and helped develop and fine-tune the organizational and leadership skills that I will use throughout the entirety of my career.”
Dr. Gillian Schmitz always thought she wanted to be an astronaut, but it wasn't long into her early career as an aerospace engineer that she realized she was far more interested in the way people work, than the way software works. This epiphany was the beginning of a young, stellar career in academic emergency medicine, where she says she has been able to satisfy her passion for teaching, research, and her diverse patient population. The current chair of ACEP's Academic Affairs Committee, Dr. Schmitz first became involved in EM leadership during her term on the EMRA board, which she contends was “perhaps the single best thing” she did during her residency.