After spending 18 months as Peace Corps volunteers in Ukraine, the Schmidts returned to their California hometown of Laguna Beach, and then signed on for an assignment with Dentistry Overseas in Moldova
Peace Corps
California dentist and his wife find new careers in volunteerism
By Stacie Crozier
Kiev, Ukraine — After serving the dental profession with a distinguished career as a practitioner, educator and volunteer, Dr. Hugo Schmidt and his wife Diana decided to “retire” to Eastern Europe and a longtime wish—to serve in the Peace Corps.
Dr. Schmidt sold his California dental practice in 1999, giving him and his wife more time to enjoy international travel and service opportunities. After spending 18 months as Peace Corps volunteers in Ukraine, the Schmidts returned to their California hometown of Laguna Beach, and then signed on for an assignment with Dentistry Overseas in Moldova that would begin this fall.
Common bonds: Dr. Schmidt pauses with fellow Peace Corps volunteers, from left, Sandra and Diana and language tutor and interpreter Sveta in front of a Ukranian movie theater with hand-painted posters plugging the American movies “Traffic” and “102 Dalmations.”
Dentistry Overseas is one of 10 divisions of Health Volunteers Overseas, a private nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality and increasing the availability of health care in developing countries through training and education. The American Dental Association sponsors DO.
Wedged between Ukraine to the north and east, Romania to the west and the Black Sea to the south, Moldova is a former republic of the Soviet Union. Currently, Moldova is a site served by both the Peace Corps and Dentistry Overseas.
The Schmidts’ initial decision to enlist in the Peace Corps was made several years ago in a hospital room in the south of France. While the couple was on a bicycling tour, Diana was hit by a car.
“She told me that while she laid there, she realized working in the Peace Corps was something she had always wanted to do,” Dr. Schmidt says. “So she asked me, “If I recover, would you join the Peace Corps with me?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ And we did.”
This summer the Schmidts returned to Ukraine when Diana was selected for a 30-month assignment as administrator for the Peace Corps training program in Kiev. Dr. Schmidt jokes that he will be the “unemployed” spouse, but will take the opportunity to volunteer for the Dentistry Overseas site in Moldova, just an overnight train ride or a one-hour flight from Kiev. He also hopes to use his time and talents to continue his work as an American “ambassador.”
“As a Peace Corps volunteer, I learned that in addition to your work, you need to be available to fulfill other roles in the community,” Dr. Schmidt says. “During our first stay, I volunteered for schools, dental clinics, English language clubs, scouting groups, summer camps, sports clubs and more. I hosted music appreciation classes that incorporated talks on American history and culture with country, jazz, blues and Motown using my compact disc collection. As a former U.S. Air Force Survival School graduate and combat pilot in Korea, I was also able to teach wilderness survival and first aid. I also taught gender studies and sexual health, an important task in a country with one of the fastest-growing rates of human immunodeficiency virus infection in Europe.”
In a culture where most dentists work for the government, he explains, dental care focuses on emergency treatments and basic restorative care. Dentists in Ukraine might find innovations in cosmetic dentistry in the United States interesting, but not applicable to their practice needs.
“You learn to be flexible,” he adds. “When you enter another culture with your American ideas, you quickly learn that not much of what you know will work there.”
