Steven Z. Pantilat

MD

Director, Palliative Care Program
Daily runner, poetry lover, avid traveler and foodie

Dr. Steven Pantilat is a palliative care doctor working with patients who have serious illnesses. As a hospitalist, he also specializes in caring for those who are hospitalized. He helps patients and their families create pain management plans and alleviate the stress associated with a serious illness. He directs the UCSF Palliative Care Program.

Pantilat's research focuses on improving palliative care for people with serious illnesses and investigating how providers deliver palliative care in a clinical setting. An internationally recognized expert in both hospital medicine and palliative care, he also directs the UCSF Palliative Care Leadership Center, which has trained teams from more than 200 hospitals across the country on how to establish palliative care programs. As a consultant, he has assisted hospitals and health systems across the country with developing their own palliative care programs.

Pantilat earned his medical degree from UCSF, where he also completed both a residency and a fellowship in internal medicine.

  • Education

    UCSF, 1989

  • Residencies

    UCSF, Internal Medicine, 1992

  • Fellowships

    UCSF, Internal Medicine, 1996

  • Board Certifications

    Hospice and Palliative Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine

  • Academic Title

    Professor

A line from a Mary Oliver poem, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?” inspires my life and practice of medicine.

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