
In 1979, he joined the New York Medical College as an associate professor of clinical psychiatry and taught there until 1992 when he left to join Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Simultaneously, he started working as an inpatient unit chief at the New York Hospital - Westchester Division. In 1974, Schwartz joined the Cornell University Medical College as an assistant professor of psychiatry. From 1972 to 1974, he also worked as a clinical associate at the Laboratory of Neuropsychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health. Subsequently, he joined Cornell University’s hospital as an intern and continued working there until 1974. He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Schwartz is one of the founding editors-in-chief of Philosophy, Ethics and Humanities in Medicine, Associate Editor of Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology, and a member of the Comité de Lecture of PSN (Psychiatrie, Sciences humaines, Neurosciences). His work focuses on advancing pluralistic, person and people-centered approaches to psychiatric assessment, care and treatment. He continues practicing psychiatry as well as writing and editing psychiatric books and articles.

In 2018 Schwartz retired as clinical professor of psychiatry and joint professor of humanities in medicine at the Texas A&M School of Medicine. Michael Alan Schwartz is an American academic and psychiatrist based in Weston, Connecticut.
