September 16, 2009
RICHMOND, Va. -- When most people think about medical reporting, images of doctors in lab coats rattling off endless strings of meaningless data generally follow. However, there is a lot of valuable information available to consumers if they have the medium to understand the jargon.
Tammie Smith is that medium.
During a recent visit to Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park Campus, Smith gave a talk to a Mass Communications class. Covering topics from her personal life to the intricacies of healthcare reporting, Smith provided insight into the world of print journalism.
A health and medical reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch for almost 10 years, Smith has been interested in covering the medical beat since early in her career. Everyone is involved with healthcare to some degree, she said during her visit, whether as medical professionals or simply consumers.
Not only did it interest her, she decided, but medical news would also interest her readers.
After graduating from Old Dominion University in 1983, Smith landed a job writing for The Journal and Guide in Norfolk, Va., relying on the education she acquired in her studies in communications and journalism.
Still a fresh face in the journalism world, Smith, like most rookies, did not have the opportunity to report on the larger issues, instead being relegated to the stories passed over by the veteran journalists.
Smith kept writing, though, and after four years with the Norfolk paper, she moved to Nashville in 1987 to pursue an opportunity writing for The Tennessean.
After several more years of writing for any beat she was assigned, the primary medical reporter at The Tennessean left the paper. Smith’s interest in healthcare resurfaced, and, seeing her opportunity to move up the journalism ladder, she applied for, and was promoted to, the position.
Smith said that her beat in Nashville was a great place for her to begin her career as true medical reporter. Not only was she covering only stories related to healthcare, but Nashville is home to two strong medical programs, Vanderbilt University and Meharry Medical College.
Smith’s proximity to these research centers put her in the middle of countless academic studies, allowing her to expand her repertoire of coverage.
In addition to the news from the medical research centers, Smith had first-hand access to much of the information sent out by HCA, Inc., one of the largest hospital chains in the nation.
Headquartered in Nashville, information on HCA’s advancements was just a phone call away. After six years of medical reporting for The Tennessean (13 years total employment), Smith brought her portfolio to Richmond in 2000.
Since her move, Smith has been a prominent health and medical reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Again, her proximity to a medical college, this time the Medical College of Virginia, has provided a wide range of research for her to review and report.
Smith has written many feature articles concerning public health while with the Times-Dispatch, and she doesn’t show signs of stopping.
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