Jennifer Spear Smith, Wyeth

JENNIFER SPEAR SMITH

Executive Director, Medical Education, Wyeth

(JOHN HALPERN)

Jennifer Spear Smith may be soft-spoken and petite, but she is loud, clear, and stands tall for one part of industry that she is clearly passionate about: continuing medical education (CME).

Prior to her current position as executive director of medical education for Wyeth, Spear Smith was a CME provider and before that a professor in physiology at Indiana University and Purdue University's combined medical school program. "Medical school was just a starting point for me," says Spear Smith. "Things change so differently in medicine. There is a system, but it needs improvement so that physicians can be helping patients. That is the reason I go to work every day, to improve patient care."

Spear Smith was attracted to the pharma industry for the ample resources available to guide CME in a direction where she could "make a difference in patient care." And she already has by helping to make Wyeth one of the first pharmaceutical companies to require CME providers, after they conducted a CME activity, to measure its success.

"In 10 years, I hope I am still involved in managing education of physicians where it's my goal to continue in a position that ultimately helps patient care," Spear Smith says. "A pharma company is in the perfect position to make a change with how they conduct business and really gear it toward patient care. When we can do that we will have really revolutionized the business."