Dr. Schmid-Siegel attended primary and secondary school in Vienna's 18th. District, passing her school-leaving exams with distinction. She graduated from the University of Vienna as a Doctor of General Medicine. In parallel to this, she studied psychology at the University of Vienna for several semesters. She set out on her medical career with an internship as a general practitioner, gaining her medical licence (Jus practicandi) in 1987. She worked in various medical roles (on-call doctor, outpatient clinic for alcoholics with Caritas Vienna, AIDS support) while completing her specialist training as a visiting doctor at the then Department of Psychiatry. In 1991 she became a consultant of psychiatry and neurology. Following the end of his specialist training, she briefly worked as a senior doctor on the drugs ward in Vienna Psychiatric Hospital.
In addition to her specialist medical training, Dr. Schmid-Siegel was also trained as a psychotherapist and obtained the Medical Association Diploma in Psychotherapy and Psychosocial Medicine. She worked in various areas of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, for example in the main outpatient department of the Division of Social Psychiatry, the outpatient drug clinic, on acute ward 5A and in peripartum psychiatry. Her main scientific interests were addiction, gender issues in psychiatry and psychiatric disorders during pregnancy and in the postnatal period. One of Dr. Schmid-Siegel's great accomplishments was to build up the area of peripartum psychiatry. It was thanks to her commitment that the first clinical unit was set up in Austria that could admit and treat both mentally ill pregnant women and new mothers in the first postnatal year together with their infants. She not only built up this special healthcare offering but also travelled to give numerous lectures on this specialised area of psychiatry. Her high level of commitment in the care of mentally ill patients was remarkable. However, she also found time to champion many issues affecting her colleagues.
The unexpected death of Ass. Prof. Dr. Schmid-Siegel is a great loss to the Division of Social Psychiatry.
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Johannes Wancata
Head of the Division of Social Psychiatry
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy