Last Thursday, the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Occupational Medicine hosted a celebration in honor of Gregory Schmidt, MD, professor of internal medicine, on the occasion of his retirement. The division reserved the department’s Grand Rounds with a guest lecturer to honor Schmidt’s contributions to the department and to University of Iowa Health Care.

Before Division Director David Stoltz, MD, PhD, introduced George Karam, MD, MACP, professor of medicine at Louisiana State University, he also introduced visiting guests and longtime collaborators of Schmidt’s. As the Paula Garvey Manship Chair of Medical Education at LSU, Karam also had familiarity with Schmidt and his contributions to critical care medicine. The lecture Karam delivered focused not just on general principles of medical education, but specifically the lessons he had witnessed in Schmidt’s career. This presentation can be seen here.

Following the widely appreciated and affecting presentation, attendees reassembled in a nearby meeting space for a reception in Schmidt’s honor. After some refreshments, Stoltz again welcomed guests and offered remarks. He thanked Schmidt for his dedication and his commitment to innovation, particularly in implementing new ideas such as the use of point-of-care ultrasound in the Medical ICU.

Stoltz was followed by Paul Nassar, MD, MPH, who worked closely with Schmidt and recently succeeded him as director of the Midwest Critical Care Fellows Ultrasound Symposium. After Nassar spoke, Yana Zemkova, MD, a recent graduate from the pulmonary and critical care fellowship, described what makes Schmidt such a valuable mentor and instructor. Joseph Zabner, MD, former pulmonary division director, then offered a few lessons learned from Schmidt as well as his gratitude to Schmidt for helping make his job so easy over the years.

Schmidt then spoke, offering his own “final” thoughts on his career and some advice for those who will remain. He described the importance of professional networking and always saying “yes,” because one can never know where that might lead next. He also stressed how valuable “building in fun” is to maintaining perspective when the work becomes difficult. He gave the same gratitude back to Zabner and Stoltz for their support of his projects and the day-to-day clinical work. “I have been so lucky to have had good bosses. Seeds need soil.”

Finally, he said that he did not view this change as any kind of ending, but only a move toward the next thing, which has always been a part of his career. “The best,” he said, “is yet to come.”