UAMS Names Smith Director of Continuing Medical Education

By todd

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LITTLE ROCK – Melissa Smith was named director of continuing medical education for the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).


 


Smith, an Arkansas native, brings more than 18 years of health care business administration, corporate public relations, marketing, communications, sales, education, practice management and new business development to UAMS.


 


Smith received bachelor’s degrees in both journalism and education from the University of Arkansas.


 


She previously served as regional director of community relations for Hillhaven Corp. of Tucson, Ariz., where she led the marketing and sales for seven skilled nursing facilities, medical rehabilitation units and deluxe retirement properties. Smith also served as the director of marketing, public relations and communications for Columbia Doctors Hospital and Columbia Family Clinics.


 


Most recently Smith helped develop and operate Maumelle Family Dental Care, the private dental practice of her husband, Keith W. Smith, D.D.S.


 


As director of CME for the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Smith will serve as an educational resource for practicing clinicians, departmental residents, medical students and the department’s research division.


 


UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,538 students and 733 medical residents. Its centers of excellence include the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is one of the state’s largest public employers with about 9,600 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $5 billion a year. Visit www.uams.edu.