The same year, he began his medical studies at Heidelberg University which he successfully completed in the winter semester of 1958/59.
From 1970 to 1971 he was a Visiting Research Associate Professor in the department of physiology, State University of New York at Buffalo, N.Y., USA.
His primary research focus has been the characteristics of pain receptors and the processing of signals emanating from them in the spinal cord.
He also explained the time course and the causes for increased sensitivity of pain receptors in inflamed tissues, such as occurs after sunburn.
Brandes R, Schmidt RF, Lang F), and is considered the standard textbook of physiology in German language.
[2] Since 2007 Robert F. Schmidt had been taken on a leading role in the development of patient information and communication systems that can be readily understood by laypersons.