Medicine is a second career for Szymanski, who also holds a PhD in exercise science from the University of South Carolina. As an exercise physiologist she directed university- and community-based preventive and rehabilitative exercise programs. As a postdoctoral researcher at George Washington University, she studied the effects of hormone therapy and exercise in postmenopausal women. After earning an MD at Georgetown University, she completed a residency in gynecology and obstetrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she served as administrative chief resident. She then completed a fellowship in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, where she is now director of the Multiple Gestation Clinic. She is developing evidence-based guidelines for exercise during pregnancy to enable providers to appropriately counsel patients.