Training in Mechanisms and Clinical Presentation of Pain

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The overarching goal of this training program is to train the next generation of pain researchers. We will continue to train both pre- (two per year) and post-doctoral (two per year) fellows in the fundamental principles of pain, as nociceptive signals arise and are modulated throughout the body and ultimately integrated in the brain to produce the sensory and emotional experience. We will continue to build on the training program developed through the first two funding periods of this grant around a combination of more formal coursework and less formal training experiences designed to provide not only a solid background in pain mechanisms and management, and a greater appreciation of the burden of pain, but in a variety of skills critical for career development including the use of cutting edge and rigorous and statistically sound methodology, literacy in quantitative approaches to pain research, networking, and oral and written communication. We are committed to an integrated approach to the study of pain which is based on our belief that major breakthroughs in this field can only be achieved through multidisciplinary approaches. This is most clearly manifest in practice through interactions between [1] laboratories (horizontal integration) and [2] researchers and clinicians (vertical integration). Accordingly, horizontal and vertical integration are essential components of this training program, which consists of three core elements: 1) Research - Multidisciplinary research projects are not only encouraged, but expected, as is exposure to clinical management of pain/pain-related problems. Horizontal and vertical integration will be achieved both through the choice of project, shaped by a primary mentor with input from the executive committee, and through the formation of multidisciplinary mentoring committees which will include at least one clinical faculty member among a three to four-member committee. 2) Theory - Trainees participate in four required for-credit courses: Mechanisms and Clinical Presentation of Pain, Pain Journal Club, bi-weekly Current Research on Pain presentations, and Pain Models – Rationale, Testing and Interpretation, as well as the monthly Pain Seminar Series, where trainees interact with prominent pain researchers. These courses serve as a primary venue to address issues of scientific rigor, proper use of statistics in experimental design and analysis, quantitative literacy, as well as reinforce issues associated with the responsible conduct of research. 3) Practice - Trainees will be exposed to the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain patients through three primary venues: 1) the Mechanisms of Clinical Presentation of Pain course includes a series of lectures directed at assessment diagnosis and treatment of specific subpopulations/aspects of pain patients (visceral, headache, geriatric, etc); 2) One-on-one interactions with a clinician as a member of the training committee, that is often associated with opportunities for trainees to shadow pain physicians as they interview, diagnose and manage pain patients; and 3) Participation in activities organized by the Challenges in Managing and Preventing Pain (CHAMPP) Clinical Pain Research Center that involves exposure to clinical pain research, pain clinicians, and pain patients.