Dr. Bob Uslander, MD
Founder, Physician, Educator
Bob Uslander, MD, is the co-founder and medical director of Empowered Endings in San Diego, California. With 30+ years of experience as a physician in emergency medicine, palliative care and hospice care,...
Read MoreDr. Bob Uslander, MD
Founder, Physician, Educator
Bob Uslander, MD, is the co-founder and medical director of Empowered Endings in San Diego, California. With 30+ years of experience as a physician in emergency medicine, palliative care and hospice care, Dr. Bob is dedicated to supporting patients and families through major health and life challenges- especially as the end of life approaches.
Dr. Bob understands that optimal care requires more than simply keeping patients comfortable. He believes it is vital to address the whole person and meet their physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs to ensure the best quality of life, and the most peaceful death possible.
He strives to foster deep connections with his patients and their families while guiding and empowering them in making the best decisions about their care. His goal is to ensure that patients enjoy the greatest sense of peace and well-being as they go through the stages of illness until their final breath.
Dr. Bob collaborates with other physicians and care providers in the San Diego area and throughout Southern California to best support his patients and families. His gentle and communicative manner brings families together to support their loved ones in a “village” approach.
Dr. Bob understands that the most valuable gift he can offer as a physician and a human being is to listen and empathize with his patients and families. His experience as an emergency physician and a palliative care and hospice physician, combined with his personal experience of caring for friends and family members through illness and death, has given him a unique perspective that allows him to be a genuine and effective doctor, navigator, guide, advocate, and friend to his patients and their loved ones.
Dr. Bob graduated summa cum laude from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign with his Bachelor of Science in biology. He then attended the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in Los Angeles, California, where he earned his Doctor of Medicine and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago, Il.
Prior to establishing Empowered Endings, Dr. Bob practiced as an emergency physician in Chicago, Guam and Sonora, Ca. From 2013 to 2015 he served as the Medical Director for Palliative Care and Hospice at LightBridge Medical Associates in San Diego, California.
Elizabeth Uslander, MSW MTS
Founder, Counselor, Educator
Elizabeth Uslander, MSW, MTS is the Founder of Voyages and Co-Founder of Empowered Endings. She is widely known as a conscious entrepreneur dedicated to facilitating transformation and empowerment in her...
Read MoreElizabeth Uslander, MSW MTS
Founder, Counselor, Educator
Elizabeth Uslander, MSW, MTS is the Founder of Voyages and Co-Founder of Empowered Endings. She is widely known as a conscious entrepreneur dedicated to facilitating transformation and empowerment in her fields of expertise.
Elizabeth earned her Bachelor of Arts, cum laude with honors from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. She then completed her Master of Theological Studies from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC., before graduating cum laude with honors from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles with her Master of Social Work. Following her early spiritual awakening and extensive study and training, Elizabeth has served as a Spiritual Counselor and Medical Social Worker in the fields of spiritual transformation, grief and end of life care, mental health and addiction recovery, healing family trauma and human rights advocacy.
In 2020 Elizabeth established Voyages to provide transformational counseling not traditionally available in the medical model. She offers clients a nurturing counseling environment as they journey together in healing the wounds of a lifetime and navigate life’s major transitions. She supports her clients through deep interpersonal relationships as she guides them in transforming their experience of life. Elizabeth’s unique therapeutic and educational modality integrates Eastern & Western, modern & ancient, traditional & alternative, clinical & spiritual principles and practices to bring nourishing alignment to everyone’s mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and social experience.
Elizabeth joined Dr. Robert Uslander (Dr. Bob) as the Practice Director at Integrated MD Care shortly after its conception in 2016. Their partnership has since blossomed into a marriage of their hearts and minds. Together, as husband and wife, they created Empowered Endings, a collective established to facilitate social paradigm shifts in end of life care and to ensure quality end of life and grief care for all. Their extensive expertise as practitioners and educators regarding legal End of Life Options, including Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) and Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED), as well as their experience working both within the healthcare system and independently, informs their singular perspective and passionate drive to reinvent the fields of End of Life and Grief Care.
Certifications: Dignity Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Person Centered Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Trauma Informed Therapy, Feedback Informed Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Strengths Based Therapy, Problem Solving Therapy, Exposure Therapy, Creative Arts Therapy, Shamanic Healing, Energy Medicine, Sound Healing, Massage Therapy, Healing Touch, Aromatherapy, Ho’Oponono
Experience: Founder, Director, Counselor, Educator: Empowered Endings and Voyages | Medical Practice Director + Spiritual Director, Integrated MD Care | Bilingual Medical Social Worker + Bereavement Coordinator + Volunteer Coordinator, Seaport Home Health and Hospice | Bilingual Clinical Social Work Intern, Silverado Hospice, PATH Connections Housing | Spiritual Care, Water Ministry | Bilingual Recovery Educator, Arlington County Jail | Community Resource Liaison, Bread For The City | Bilingual Administrative Expert, US Institute of Peace VP and Colorado State | Bilingual Elementary School Educator, DC Public Schools and Washington Hebrew School | National Monument Guide, National Park Service
Research: Hester Fellowship, study and practice: Buddhist life in Sri Lanka | UCSD Moores Cancer Center, study: best Palliative Care practices supporting terminal Latin-American patients and families | USC Owens Clinic, study: adapting evidence-based End of Life Care interventions to new populations | Centric Consulting, study: the impact of virtual reality in Palliative and End of Life Care | USC School of Social Work, study: California’s End of Life Option Act (EOLOA) legislation and healthcare implementation | USC School of Social Work, study: the impact of EOLOA on bereaved loved ones | Wesley Theological Seminary, publication: “Faith in Doubt,” a philosophical analysis of the relevance of Paul Tillich’s Theology of Faith
Non-Profit Service: Empowered Endings Foundation, Co-Founder | Integrated Lifecare Foundation, Secretary | Georgetown University Alumni, San Diego Chapter, Member At Large | Hemlock Society, Member At Large | Kindness Committee, Consultant | Say Their Names, Consultant | Georgetown University, Donor | New Hope Grief Support, Donor
SHAWNA BECK
Patient Care Coordinator
Shawna joined the Empowered Endings team in March 2022. She has a palpable enthusiasm for patient centered and compassionate care. She has over 20 years of experience working in the healthcare field, helping...
Read MoreSHAWNA BECK
Patient Care Coordinator
Shawna joined the Empowered Endings team in March 2022. She has a palpable enthusiasm for patient centered and compassionate care. She has over 20 years of experience working in the healthcare field, helping families and patients in hospitals, outpatient and mental health clinics, PACE programs, and Geriatric and Hospice care settings. She has great passion for end-of-life care and for providing resources and options for the best quality of life, wherever a patient or family may be in their journey..
Shawna connects quickly with others and has a knack for offering clarity and comfort to people who are in stressful and challenging circumstances . Her passion is to provide options, information, and resources to patients, families and the community, allowing them the ability to make sound and informed decisions.
LORI KRAUSE
End of Life and Grief Guide
Lori has partnered with Dr. Bob and Elizabeth Uslander in supporting End of Life journeys since 2018, and joined Empowered Endings in December 2022. Lori is an experienced, certified End of Life and Grief...
Read MoreLORI KRAUSE
End of Life and Grief Guide
Lori has partnered with Dr. Bob and Elizabeth Uslander in supporting End of Life journeys since 2018, and joined Empowered Endings in December 2022. Lori is an experienced, certified End of Life and Grief Coach and Death Doula with rich personal and professional experience navigating the dynamic uncertainty of life, death and grief. She is masterful at holding space and gently guiding those who are in transition and their loved ones in experiencing a peaceful journey.
Lori’s life purpose is to be of service to others during the most vulnerable times in their lives. She is passionate about creating deep relationships in healing environments through open and honest communication, and by helping those whom she supports to feel supported and heard so they know that they matter.
MARLO SMITH
End of Life and Grief Guide
Marlo has partnered with Dr. Bob and Elizabeth Uslander in supporting End of Life journeys since 2017, and joined Empowered Endings in December 2022. Marlo Smith is a board certified Hospice and Palliative...
Read MoreMARLO SMITH
End of Life and Grief Guide
Marlo has partnered with Dr. Bob and Elizabeth Uslander in supporting End of Life journeys since 2017, and joined Empowered Endings in December 2022. Marlo Smith is a board certified Hospice and Palliative Care Music Therapist and Hospice Grief Counselor who has been supporting individuals facing terminal illness and their families since 2008.
Practicing from holistic person-centered and existential perspectives, she believes every individual has strengths and resources, and that there is always a pathway to balance and comfort, no matter the level of functioning. She is a Fellow of the Association of Music and Imagery.
PAULA JANE MACKENZIE
Executive Assistant
Paula joined Empowered Endings in January 2023. She has long been passionate about end of life care, having worked at the acclaimed San Diego Hospice & Palliative care for 15 years. At San Diego Hospice,...
Read MorePAULA JANE MACKENZIE
Executive Assistant
Paula joined Empowered Endings in January 2023. She has long been passionate about end of life care, having worked at the acclaimed San Diego Hospice & Palliative care for 15 years. At San Diego Hospice, Paula was part of a team that developed the first International Fellowship program for Hospice & Palliative Medicine. There she supported key programs that became the foundation for future end of life training programs around the world. As Executive Assistant to two of the country’s most prominent and progressive Hospice & Palliative Medicine Physicians, Paula learned the importance of whole patient care and the deep impact each person on the team can make on a patient and family.
Paula recognizes that the thought and passion put into even the smallest detail can positively change the outcome. Having experienced a close and personal loss in 2018, Paula now chooses to live each day with great intention. She strives to spend each day helping, serving, living and loving.