Bennett P. Leifer, MD, went to Brown University where he received his BA in biomedical ethics before obtaining his MD from the State University of New York-Upstate Medical College in Syracuse, New York, in 1986. He did his internship and residency in internal medicine at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut. He subsequently completed a fellowship in geriatric medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1991.

Since 1991, Dr Leifer has been in private practice in internal medicine and geriatrics as an attending physician at the Valley Hospital in Bergen County, New Jersey. He has also maintained an academic position as a clinical instructor in geriatric medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is the medical director of the Van Dyk Nursing Home in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

Dr Leifer is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, both in internal medicine and added qualifications in geriatric medicine, and successfully recertified in both disciplines. In 1999, 2000, and 2001, he was listed in New York magazine as one of the best doctors in primary care, and he was also listed in Town and Country magazine's guide to top family doctors in August 2000. Dr. Leifer is a frequent lecturer and educator in the community on Alzheimer's disease and the management of patients with dementia.

Dr Leifer has disclosed the following relationships:

• Speakers' Bureau: Eisai Inc., Pfizer Inc