Dr. Dauer completed medical school at the University of Louisville, Internal Medicine Residency at St. Louis University, and Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at Kansas University Medical Center. She went into practice at Deaconess Health System, where she served as the medical director for Palliative Care, a brief stent as a Hospice Medical Director for Deaconess VNA Hospice, and on the Ethics Committee and later the Ethics Chair. She now practices at University of Kentucky. She is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Palliative and Supportive Care. She serves as the Program Director for the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Kentucky.