U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, DC 20549

                                     FORM 3

            INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

    Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
       Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or
               Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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1. Name and Address of Reporting Person*

   Smith                 Frank
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   (Last)               (First)                 (Middle)

   520 Virginia Drive
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                                    (Street)

   Ft. Washington,      Pennsylvania            19034
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   (City)                  (State)              (Zip)


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2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year)

   May 12, 1999
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3. IRS Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an entity (Voluntary)


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4. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

   Professional Detailing, Inc. "PDII"
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5. Relationship of Reporting Person to Issuer
   (Check all applicable)

|_|   Director                             |_|   10% Owner
|_|   Officer (give title below)           |X|   Other (specify below)

      Co-Chief Executive Officer of TVG, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of
      Professional Detailing, Inc.
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6. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year)

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7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check applicable line)

   |X| Form filed by One Reporting Person

   |_| Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

================================================================================

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             Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
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<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                 3. Ownership Form:
                                      2. Amount of Securities       Direct (D) or
1. Title of Security                     Beneficially Owned         Indirect (I)       4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
   (Instr. 4)                            (Instr. 5)                 (Instr. 5)            (Instr. 5)
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   <S>                                   <C>                         <C>                  <C>
Common Stock, par value $.01 per share   164,540                     D
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</TABLE>

* If the Form is filed by more than one Reporting Person see instruction
5(b)(v).

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially
owned directly or indirectly.


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FORM 3 (continued)

              Table II -- Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
         (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
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                                                                                                        5. Owner-
                                                    3. Title and Amount of Securities                      ship
                                                       Underlying Derivative Security                      Form of
                           2. Date Exercisable         (Instr. 4)                                          Derivative
                              and Expiration Date   ---------------------------------    4. Conver-        Security:
                              (Month/Day/Year)                             Amount           sion or        Direct      7. Nature of
                           ----------------------                          or               Exercise       (D) or         Indirect
                             Date       Expira-                            Number           Price of       Indirect       Beneficial
1. Title of Derivative       Exer-      tion                               of               Derivative     (I)            Ownership
   Security (Instr. 4)       cisable    Date        Title                  Shares           Security       (Instr. 5)     (Instr. 5)
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<S>                          <C>        <C>         <C>                    <C>           <C>            <C>            <C>

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</TABLE>

Explanation of Responses:



/s/ Frank Smith                                          5/21/99
- ---------------------------------------------            -----------------------
      ** Signature of Reporting Person                            Date

**   Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal
     Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).

Note:  File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed.
       If space provided is insufficient, See Instruction 6 for procedure.


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