Cindy Lien, MD

Attending Physician, Palliative Care Service, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Attending Physician, Hospital Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Educational and professional experience

1996             BS, Biological Sciences, Stanford University
2002             MD, Washington University in St. Louis
2002-2003     Intern in Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
2003-2005     Resident in Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
2006-2007     Fellow, Harvard Palliative Medicine Fellowship

Faculty Academic Appointments:
2005-2006     Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School
2006-2007     Clinical Fellow in Medicine, Harvard Medical School
2007-2016     Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School
2016-            Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Hospital Appointments:
2005-2006    Internal Medicine Hospitalist, Medicine/General Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
2007-          Palliative Care Physician, Internal Medicine Hospitalist, Medicine/General Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
 
Educational Roles:
2007-2013     Course Co-Director, Palliative Care Elective – Pain Fellowship, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
2007-2014     Course Co-Director, Palliative Care Elective – Internal Medicine Residency, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center         
2017-           Course Coordinator, Palliative Care Elective – Pain Fellowship, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
2007-            Teaching Attending, Palliative Care Consult Service, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
2007-            Teaching Attending, Internal Medicine Hospitalist Service, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Current teaching and research interests

Cindy Lien MD is an internal medicine hospitalist and palliative care physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).  She serves as a teaching attending and mentor to internal medicine housestaff, pain fellows, and palliative care fellows.  She has been instrumental in the growth of the BIDMC palliative care consult service and in the development of clinical rotations for internal medicine housestaff and anesthesia pain fellows.   She is an active educator in palliative medicine within the Harvard community and beyond, including national meetings of the American Academy of Hospital Medicine (AAHPM) and Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM).  Her academic interests focus on quality improvement in end-of-life care.  Key projects have included a study demonstrating significant variability in opioid-infusion practices and the creation of hospital-wide comfort-care guidelines.  She is currently working on a project to determine whether BIDMC primary care patients with a high mortality index can benefit from early introduction to palliative care at the time of hospitalization.