Hospice and palliative care: an expert interview with Louis W. Sullivan, MD. Interview by Perry G. Fine

At the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization's 6th Clinical Team Conference on Hospice and Palliative Care, held April 21-23, 2005, in Atlanta, Georgia, Perry G. Fine, MD, Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and Vice President of Medical Affairs for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization interviewed Louis W. Sullivan, MD, former Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services and currently President Emeritus of Morehouse School of Medicine, Chair of the Sullivan Commission-a commission to increase diversity among health professionals, Chair of the National Health Museum, Cochair of the President's Commission on HIV/AIDS, and Chair of the President's Commission on Black Colleges and Universities, as well as Chair of Medical Education for South African Blacks. Dr. Fine and Dr. Sullivan discussed the importance of hospice and palliative care, along with some of the practical issues facing clinicians who wish to use the hospice care system.