Dr. Shaida Talebreza MD, AGSF, FAAHPM serves as Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Utah and is board certified in in family medicine, geriatric medicine, hospice and palliative medicine. Dr. Talebreza serves as the Associate Chief of Staff for Geriatrics, Palliative and Extended Care for the George E. Wahlen, Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs Medical Center and as a national leader for the VA National Center for Ethics in Health Care VA Life-Sustaining Treatment Decisions Initiative (VA LSTDI). The goal of the VA LSTDI is to develop and implement new practices to ensure that the values, goals, and life-sustaining treatment decisions of seriously ill Veterans are elicited, documented, and honored. Dr. Talebreza’s leadership role with the VA LSTDI includes creating and disseminating educational resources and training programs for healthcare providers caring for patients with serious illness throughout the nation, and advising in the creation and implementation of a sustainable infrastructure in the VA electronic health record to document, retrieve and carry out patient’s preferences regarding life-sustaining treatment.
Dr. Talebreza strives to promote geriatric palliative care education nationally. She serves on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). She served as Co-Chair and faculty of AAHPM’s Hospice Medical Director Education Conference from 2014-2017. She served on the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Education Committee and is the project leader of the Geriatrics Evaluation and Management Tools, an AGS educational publication and smartphone app. She has written articles, editorials and book chapters on hospice, palliative and geriatric care, as well as patient educational material and videos about advance care planning and life-sustaining treatments.
She received a U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources Geriatric Academic Career Award for 2010-2015 for developing geriatric palliative care curriculum. In 2015, she was awarded the American Geriatrics Society Outstanding Junior Clinician Educator of the Year Award. She was the recipient of the 2015 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award which recognizes physicians who give exemplary care to patients at the end of life. Dr. Talebreza is recognized as a Fellow of the American Geriatrics Society (AGSF) and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine’s (FAAHPM). Fellow status is one of the highest honors awarded to members who have demonstrated an exceptional professional commitment and contribution to the progress of their field of medicine.
Dr. Talebreza is passionate about providing comprehensive, compassionate, evidence-based care to people with serious illness and educating and inspiring others to do this important work.
