The goals of this four-day course are to introduce students to pain as an interdisciplinary area of research and clinical practice. Topics include the neurobiology of pain, genetics of pain, pharmacology of pain relief, clinical pain assessment and the affective component of pain experience. Lecture, small-group discussion, team-based learning, prescription-writing labs, reflective writing and clinical correlations are all used in the course. 

Course Goals

After participating in this course, medical students will be able to:

• Identify pain as a complex, multidimensional experience and discuss the individual, interpersonal, and societal impact of pain and its relief.
• Develop knowledge and skills in the assessment and treatment of pain.
• Identify evidence-based pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies that may be effective in managing acute and chronic pain.
• Understand the risks and benefits of using opioid analgesics and why these medicines require intensive scrutiny and monitoring during treatment, including the monitoring of problem behaviors.
• Describe the potential role for non-physicians in the management of acute and chronic pain, recognizing how physicians can collaborate with other team members to manage pain.

Contact

Pamela McCann, M.S.
Senior Medical Training Program Administrator
Email: [email protected]

Time Commitment and Course Length

The course runs for 20 hours over 4 days.