Joel S. Policzer, MD, FACP, FAAHPM, is Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs for VITAS Healthcare, the nation’s leading provider of hospice and palliative medicine services. He focuses on working with academic and professional groups, and has dedicated much of his professional life to the study, practice and teaching of hospice and palliative medicine. He is clinical faculty at four medical schools in South Florida, teaching medical students and residents clinical care of end-of-life patients. He has taught Jewish Medical Ethics to rabbinical students in the U.S. and in Israel, as well as in adult education courses, and has taught how to develop advance care plans and a therapeutic physician relationship to community groups. He has also has authored articles on pain management and end-of-life care issues for peer-reviewed journals and is co-editor of the textbook End of Life Care: A Practical Guide.