In this Q&A series, Tim Morant, Chief Risk Assessment Officer at Munich Re Life US, explores the rapidly evolving risk assessment landscape with industry experts. 

Dr. Gina Guzman (GG) is Vice-President and Chief Medical Director at Munich Re Life US. With over 25 years of experience in insurance medicine, Dr. Guzman has a deep understanding of risk assessment and plays a key role in investigating medical advances as they relate to driving innovation in life insurance.  

GG: I come from a family of health care professionals. My father is a doctor, my mother is a nurse, and my older sister is a neonatal ICU nurse. My grandfather was a surgeon, my grandmother a pharmacist, and I also have several extended family members with careers in nursing, pharmacy, and medical equipment sales. You can say that medicine is in my blood, so it’s not surprising that I chose a career in this field.

I completed all my post-graduate training in downtown Chicago, where I also met my husband. After completing medical school and a residency in Internal Medicine, I got married and worked as a clinical internist in the western suburbs of Chicago. However, work was grueling, I never saw my husband, and I was getting burned out quickly. A friend of a friend suggested I look into Insurance Medicine. I had no idea what that entailed, but shortly after, I was on the phone with the Chief Medical Officer of CNA Life Re getting the scoop. I was fascinated by the intermixing of my medical knowledge with the business of life insurance, but at that time, there were no jobs available.

As luck would have it, I was called back a few months later. CNA Life Re was being sold to Munich Re, and a medical director position had opened up. I was encouraged to interview despite having no experience in Insurance Medicine. I took a leap of faith and interviewed. Fortunately, they gave me a chance and I’ve been with Munich Re now for over 25 years! It’s the best decision I have ever made.

GG: To be honest, it was the year 2000 when I made the change from Internal Medicine to Insurance Medicine. I thought I would miss patient care, but I truly don’t. I was glad to give up all the paperwork and move to a career where my medical knowledge is used to expand insurability to people who need and deserve life and disability insurance. I spent the first five years of my career in “development” mode, learning everything I could about the blend of insurance and medicine. I became Board Certified as a Diplomat of the Board of Insurance Medicine (DBIM) in 2004, Fellow of the Academy of Life Underwriting (FALU) in 2012, Fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI) in 2014, and Fellow of the American Academy of Insurance Medicine (FAAIM) in 2018. I continue to be a lifelong learner, using my time to focus on the latest medical advancements, changes in healthcare technology, and researching how these impact mortality and morbidity.