Four Pain Fellowship Programs Receive Fellowship Excellence Awards from the American Academy of Pain Medicine at its 32nd Annual Meeting, Palm Springs, CA

The Cleveland Clinic Pain Medicine Fellowship Program is the largest and one of the first multidisciplinary pain medicine programs in the United States. The program’s goal is to train future leaders and consultants in pain practice and research. The program accepts 10 fellows each year for Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)–accredited 12-month training with the option of an additional 12-month advanced training. The Pain Management Department has approximately 30 full-time pain physicians, cares for more than 110,000 patient visits, and performs more than 37,000 procedures annually, using state-of-the-art technology and equipment. The program is in the forefront of practice and research with implantable devices. All fellows rotate through the departments of pain management for chronic pain assessment and treatment, neurology for headaches and facial pain, radiology for neuroimaging, physical medicine and rehabilitation for musculoskeletal pain, palliative care centered on cancer pain, psychiatry and psychology for chronic pain rehabilitation, and anesthesiology for regional anesthesia and acute pain. In the past 6 years, the program underwent two ACGME site visits for program evaluations, each with a commendation by the review committee for achieving a remarkable record of excellence with zero citations. AAPM extends its congratulations to Jianguo Cheng, MD PhD, program director, Cleveland Clinic Pain Medicine Fellowship Program, and its faculty and staff.

The University of California, Davis Pain Medicine Fellowship Program is an advanced center for the evaluation and treatment of all forms of pain. The program has a tradition of providing fellows in training with the broadest experience in pain medicine, including appropriate applications of traditional and novel analgesics and state-of-the-art interventional procedures. The training mission is to help future leaders in pain medicine advance through developing advanced knowledge and skills in managing patients in pain while practicing excellent patient care and participating in a stimulating research environment. Fellows are part of a diverse environment in multidisciplinary pain management where training and staff clinicians are from many specialties, including anesthesia, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, medicine, psychiatry, and other specialty fields. The clinical experiences offered at UC Davis in pain management are exceptionally varied, with patient population ranges from adults to children, inpatients to outpatients, and patients with acute postoperative to chronic cancer and nonmalignant pain. AAPM extends its congratulations to Program Directors Charles Demesa, DO (incoming), and Naileshni Singh, MD (outgoing), the University of California, Davis Pain Medicine Fellowship Program, and its faculty and staff.

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Pain Medicine Fellowship Program is the third program to be honored. It is based in the Department of Anesthesiology. Committed to providing evidence-based, safe, patient-centered care, fellows are part of an interdisciplinary and interactive pain medicine clinical network that ensures high-quality, comprehensive, multimodal pain care. The division is fully electronic, which allows fellows to learn how to capture data efficiently and accurately, using the most up-to-date evidence-based screening and assessment tools. This multidisciplinary program offers services ranging from pain rehabilitation to interventional therapies, affording fellows opportunities to learn from psychologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and pain medicine physicians as well as from other disciplines, including neurology, psychiatry, and rehabilitation medicine. The program encourages productive research, attracting individuals with an interest in developing an academic career. AAPM extends its congratulations to Scott A. Brancolini, MD MPH, program director, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Pain Medicine Fellowship Program, and its faculty and staff.

The Medical College of Wisconsin Comprehensive Pain Medicine Fellowship provides exceptional instruction and experience in managing acute, chronic, pediatric, and cancer pain. Fellows have the opportunity to rotate through the Pain Clinics at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Froedtert Hospital, VA Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. With its emphasis on comprehensive, multidisciplinary pain management, a wide range of treatments are offered, including standard nerve block procedures, fluoroscopy-guided blocks, neurolytic blocks, medication management, psychotherapy, physical therapy, RF and cryoanalgesia, implantable technologies, and other interventional techniques. An extensive didactic program covers a wide range of clinical and basic science topics. Fellows are encouraged to participate in the planning and implementation of clinical research involving acute, chronic, pediatric, and cancer pain patients. Extensive support for clinical research is available within the department and through the Medical College of Wisconsin. AAPM extends its congratulations to Meredith C.B. Adams, MD MS, Program Director, the Medical College of Wisconsin Comprehensive Pain Medicine Fellowship and its faculty and staff.