Keith Swetz, MD, MA, FACP, HMDC, is Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Alabama School of Medicine. He is Section Chief of Palliative Care at the Birmingham VA Medical Center and Medical Director of its Safe Harbor Palliative Care Unit. Dr. Swetz completed a Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship at the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. He joined staff at Mayo Clinic in 2008 and served as a Consultant in the Division of General Internal Medicine and in the Section of Palliative Medicine until 2015, when he was recruited to the Center for Palliative and Supportive Care at UAB. In addition to his work at the Birmingham VA, Dr. Swetz has focused on efforts to integrate palliative care into the care of patients with heart failure and left ventricular assist devices at UAB’s University Hospital and Kirklin Clinic and across the UAB campus. He has a strong interest in ethical decision making, particularly as it relates to advanced medical technologies like cardiac devices. He has written over 90 peer-reviewed manuscripts and given over 100 educational presentations related to these topics.