Advocate of Dental Education
During dental school, George J. Schmidt of the Class of 1998 learned a lot from others. His mentors shared wisdom. His mother, a dental assistant, and stepfather, a dentist, guided his career.
“Many people inspired me, and that stuck with me all these years,” he said. “I said, if I had ever had the opportunity, I would certainly want to do that.”
And he did. He has become a source of inspiration to RSDM alums and students and an advocate for dental education. He taught dentistry at every level, including pre- and post-doctoral students, as well as dentists pursuing continuing education. He was a clinical assistant professor at Rutgers School of Dental Medicine (RSDM) and later an adjunct clinical assistant professor at New York University College of Dentistry. He was a vice president of the RSDM Alumni Association, the past president of the national dental honor society, Omicron Kappa Upsilon, and held several roles in the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD). He has recently been named the vice president of AGD—a role through which he’ll further his and the organization’s commitment to education.
“Dentistry is a journey, and it’s really a lifelong learning,” he said. “One of my main focuses is to continue ensuring that our dentists have the very best educational opportunities and that we provide the best advocacy for general dentists.”
Schmidt’s dental education journey began with his family’s encouragement but came to fruition with his recognition that dentistry blended many of his skills. He liked working, meeting, and helping people. He also felt he had a creative side and good manual dexterity.
He began his dental degree at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, now Rutgers. He tried taking in as much as possible from classes and the clinic. He also spoke to as many faculty as possible to learn from their experiences. “Oftentimes the students think the goal is to get out of school as soon as possible, but really the goal should be is to absorb as much as you can while you’re there,” he said and advised: “Make the most of every opportunity and realize that it’s a big investment both in time and money.” Clinical Associate Professor of Restorative Dentistry Joseph Battaglia became one of his mentors at the school. “I really looked up to him during those years,” he said. “He remains a very close friend to this day, and we’ve kept that bond all along.”
In 2014, Schmidt became a faculty member at RSDM while working at his own practice. “Working with the younger dentists has appealed to me over the years,” he said. He mentored many students and tried to get them involved with the school and alumni association, and he organized dentistry like Battaglia had encouraged him when he was a student. “Your education does not end when you graduate dental school, but rather it continues,” Schmidt said. “The foundation you build while you’re at the school, the more contacts you can have, the more experiences you can have, the better dentist you can become,” he said. “If you collect enough of those experiences, you’ll filter it down and then create your own career.”
While teaching, Schmidt became more involved with the alumni body as well and held a few positions up to vice president in the Alumni Association. He helped create a mentorship program then called Care to Share, which has now evolved into a collaboration between RSDM and the New Jersey Dental Association. “It’s incumbent upon us as folks that have gone through everything and have had the benefit of a great career to give back to students and care to share knowledge, experience, funds, where the program was born,” he said. The program remains one of the most successful student-alumni events at RSDM and happens every spring. He also helped establish several scholarships, such as the RSDM Class of 1998 Endowed Scholarship, the OKU Passion for Humanities Endowed Scholarship, and the New Jersey AGD Endowed Scholarship.
“It’s important for alumni and dentists to give back to the profession,” he said, “and we should always keep that in mind.”
