Hospitalists are physicians who specialize in providing intensive care to hospitalized patients, working with the patient's primary care physician in either a consulting or primary care role. Dr. Smejkal is from Prague, Czech Republic. He most recently was an internal medicine intern and resident since 2002 in Bridgeport, Conn. at St. Vincent's Medical Center, an affiliate of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Dr. Smejkal earned his medical degree in 1997 at Universita Karlova in Prague. While a medical student, he had infectious disease rotations in Macon, Georgia, Washington, D.C. and Paris, France. He is also a graduate of the Diplomatic Academy of the Czech Foreign Ministry.

After graduating from medical school, Dr. Smejkal completed his obligatory military service while in the Presidential Guard Unit of the Czech Army from 1998-1999. During that time he served a three-month internship for the Czech Foreign Office in the Department of International Organizations at the United Nations. He later worked as a medical faculty member in the Infectious Disease Department of Hospital Bulovka in Prague, before coming to the United States in 2002 to complete his residency training.

Dr. Smejkal's native language is Czech, but he is also a fluent speaker of English, Slovak, French and Russian. His outside interests include art, music, theater, film, literature, and sports. He enjoys acting and singing in amateur musicals, as well as writing comedies for theater.