Jerome M. Schnitt, MD ("Jerry"), a former member of the Yale Department of Psychiatry clinical faculty and Medical Director of the addiction outpatient services at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System in West Haven, passed away June 9, 2020 after a decade-long battle with cancer. He was 73.
An academic by nature, Dr. Schnitt graduated from Yale University (Trumbull College) in 1969 before attending Medical School at West Virginia University. He subsequently completed his psychiatric residency at the University of Connecticut Health Center in 1976 as Chief Resident.
During his career, Dr. Schnitt served as Medical Director of the addiction outpatient services at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System in West Haven for 11 years, spent 33 years teaching and supervising at Yale School of Medicine, and was the Medical Director at the Stonington Institute for seven years.
He was President of the Connecticut Psychiatric Society in 1996-97 and was a founding member of both the International Traumatic Stress Society and the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatrists. He also maintained a private practice throughout his career from which he retired in 2015.
Born in Huntington, West Virginia, on Groundhog's Day, February 2, 1947, he was a baby boomer to his parents Sidney and Dorothy, and middle child to his sisters Ronni and Lainie. In 1970, he met his future wife Diana on a ferry from Copenhagen to Malmö. They married in 1972 and eventually settled in Guilford where they raised two children, Rebecca and Michael.
Whenever he was not working, Dr. Schnitt was spending time with his family, cooking, gardening, or getting out on the water on his sailboat, After Hours. He is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Diana; daughter, Rebecca; and son, Michael; as well as his two sisters, Ronni and Lainie; and niece Liza. His life will be celebrated and remembered in a private ceremony later this year.