SPEAKING & EDUCATION Teaching the why of end-of-life care.
I speak and build curricula for teaching institutions, health plans, and employers — from clinical deep-dives to accessible sessions for caregivers, designed around what your audience actually needs.
Dr. Claritza Rios
For years, my work was shaping how a generation of doctors care for people who are dying and that's still what I'm doing, just in your room now.
I'm triple board certified in emergency medicine, internal medicine, and palliative care. I served as an Associate Professor at UCSF and site director of its palliative care fellowship, and before that spent years as a residency program director, training and shaping new physicians. I've published in the field — including early work in palliative care telehealth — and I teach in both English and Spanish.
SELECTED ENGAGEMENTSWhere I've taught.
Topics, tailored to your audience.
WHAT I SPEAK ONPalliative care fundamentals
1.
What palliative care is, when it belongs, and how it changes outcomes.
Helping people name what matters before a crisis forces the question.
Advance care planning
2.
Opioids at the end of life
3.
Safe, confident symptom management — and dismantling the fear around it.
Caregiver distress & the sandwich generation
4.
Practical support for staff and employees caring for aging parents and kids at once.
Medical aid in dying
5.
The law, the process, the language, and the clinician's role in California.
Compassionate extubation & goals of care
6.
An ICU/ED-focused session on care when the plan shifts from cure to comfort.
Need something not listed? I build custom.→
However your team learns best.
FORMATS60-90 MINUTESSingle talk
A grand rounds, keynote, or lunch-and-learn on one topic, built for your audience and time slot.
MULTI-SESSIONSeries
A sequence of sessions that goes deeper — for fellowships, care teams, or staff development over time.
CUSTOMCurriculum design
A full micro-curriculum built to your goals — the kind of program I've designed for health plans and training institutions.
WHO I WORK WITHThree kinds of rooms.
Teaching institutions & health systems
Grand rounds, fellowship teaching, and sessions for physicians, nurses, and social workers.
Health plans
Curriculum and program design on palliative and end-of-life care for your clinical network.
Employers
Caregiver-support sessions for a workforce quietly stretched between aging parents and young kids.
“Dr. Ríos is an exceptional educator with a remarkable ability to make complex clinical and ethical topics understandable, practical, and relevant to everyday patient care. She creates an environment where clinicians feel comfortable considering uncertainty and different perspectives while still providing a clear framework for approaching difficult situations. Her teaching is engaging, evidence-based, and grounded in real-world clinical experience. I always come away from her presentations with a better understanding of the topic as well as practical tools that I can apply in my own practice.”
— Dr Shahriar Zehtabchi, Professor of Emergency Medicine, Director of Hospital Research, New York City Health + Hospitals/Kings County Hospital
“Dr. Ríos brings the perspective of both a clinician and a clinical leader to her educational work. She understands not only how to teach individual clinicians, but how education can drive broader changes in clinical practice, culture, and quality of care. Her ability to connect strategy, evidence, and frontline clinical practice makes her an especially effective educator.”
— Dr Shoma Desai, Physician and Medical Leader
“I have had the opportunity to learn from Dr. Ríos and to see her teach clinicians across a range of settings. She is one of those rare educators who is equally comfortable going deep into the evidence and stepping back to ask the bigger clinical and human questions. She is thoughtful, approachable, and incredibly effective at bringing people along with her.”
— Dr Audrey Tan, Palliative Care Medical Director and Former Colleague
Let's build the right session.
INVITE CLARITZATell me a little about your audience and what you're hoping they'll walk away with, and I'll follow up to shape it with you.
HOW A BOOKING WORKS 1.
Tell me what you need
Your goals, your audience, and the outcome you're after.
Time & format
2.
How long, how many sessions, in person or virtual.
Logistics
3.
Honorarium and travel, sorted up front and simply.
I design & deliver
4.
A session built for your room — not pulled off a shelf.