Course on Chronic Pain Management Now Available Online
A new certification in Integrative Approaches to Chronic Pain Management is now available for physicians, clinical psychologists and other health care providers. This course offers new tools and new ways of thinking about chronic pain. It addresses the dissatisfaction of both patients and clinicians who are frustrated with current approaches to chronic pain. The course and the associated educational credits are available for free through the partnership with the Samueli Foundation.
“For decades, Dr. Wayne Jonas and his colleagues have been leading thinkers, researchers, and practitioners in scientifically-grounded Integrative Medicine,” said Donald Berwick, MD, MPP, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. “This new course puts their experience and advice within easy reach of anyone who wants to begin to learn and master these methods in application to Chronic Pain Management. It can open the eyes of clinicians to a much broader portfolio of methods for helping.”
Timely recognition of new chronic pain or exacerbations of preexisting chronic pain, prompt and targeted treatment, and strategies to mitigate the potential impact on health are strongly encouraged by the CDC. Additionally, patients’ suffering has increased due to the disruptions in access to care and additional psychological and social stressors because of COVID-19.
Options Beyond Opioids
Too often, treating patients with chronic pain turns into a frustrating process of patients asking for ever-increasing doses of opioid analgesics to control their pain, with physicians and other providers uncomfortable prescribing them. “When clinicians get into a tug-of-war with patients over pain control, the therapeutic relationship suffers,” said Wayne Jonas, MD, Executive Director of Samueli Foundation Integrative Health Programs, who is a presenter in the course. “Our goal is to expand the discussion about how pain affects all aspects of a patient’s life and begin to address these as well as the pain itself. These modules will help providers deliver a more whole person, integrative approach to pain”
Course available at no cost, with CME credit
This course is jointly provided by Tufts University School of Medicine Office of Continuing Education and Center for Innovation in Family Medicine. Clinicians can earn up to 12 AAFP Prescribed credits and 4 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. The course, certification and credits are available for free through support from the Samueli Foundation.