AAPM SIGs bring together members with shared interests.

The American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) recognizes that its members value opportunities to come together for the purpose of sharing their interests as they relate to our specialty. To provide a forum for this, AAPM has created shared interest groups (SIGs). SIGs provide a forum for members to come together and network, discuss, and advance shared interests in a particular field or topic.

How do I get involved in a SIG?

AAPM SIGs meet in-person during the AAPM Annual Meeting and may meet via teleconference at other times throughout the year. SIG meetings at the AAPM Annual Meeting are open to all Annual Meeting attendees. AAPM members can add their names to the SIG e-mail list by updating their account preferences on the my account page.

AAPM Shared Interest Groups

Academic Pain Medicine

Dedicated to supporting academic pain medicine through:

• Deliberate mentorship of academic pain clinicians, under the rubric of faculty development
• Programmatic and ongoing career development of pain medicine researchers, educators, and academic leaders throughout their careers
• The organization of an outstanding academic meeting session at the AAPM Annual Meeting with targeted provision of networking opportunities to academic pain medicine clinicians.

Chair: Sean Mackey, MD PhD

Acute Pain Medicine

Lead in developing systems, methods, and interventions to obviate suffering from perioperative and acute pain. The SIG will advocate for effective perioperative and acute pain management to limit its chronification, whether from trauma, medical conditions, and/or surgical operations by advancing the science and practice of acute pain medicine.

Co-Chairs: Jennifer Hah, MD; Marie Hanna, MD; Cameron Smith, MD 

APRNs/PAs in Pain Medicine

A professional meeting place at the annual conference for APRNs/PAs and other clinicians with an interest in interprofessional pain management. A key goal is to advance and promote the education, research and clinical role of APRNs/PAs functioning in interprofessional pain management.

Co-Chairs: Sean Mackey, MD PhD; Theresa (Tracey) Mallick-Searle, MS RN-BC ANP-BC; Jeremy Adler, MS PAC

Behavioral Medicine/Pain Psychology

Give pain psychology a specific home at the Annual Meeting; allow for the development of focused goals deemed important by the group; be the unified voice of the growing pain psychology contingency, and non-psychologist friends of said contingency; potentially serve as a draw for new psychologist AAPM members.

Co-chairs: Ted Jones, PhD; Sean Mackey, MD PhD; Judith Scheman, PhD

Disparities in Pain Management

The AAPM Disparities in Pain Management SIG seeks to equalize access to treatment for chronic pain in racial and ethnic minorities and people living in poverty by:

• Creating a forum for sharing knowledge and expanding awareness of existing disparities in pain care
• Promoting and participating in research efforts and programs to help improve access to pain treatment in the United States and globally
• Creating opportunities for mentorship and partnership to improve medical education in pain management

Co-chairs: Natacha Telusca, MD MPH; Juliet Gaisey, MD; Sean Mackey, MD PhD; James Khan, MD MSc; Fabienne Saint-Preux, MD; Charonn D. Woods, MD

Federal Medicine

A meeting place for Annual Meeting attendees from the military or VA.

Co-Chair: Chester “Trip” Buckenmaier III, MD; Friedhelm Sandbrink, MD

Headache and Orofacial Pain Medicine

A meeting place for people who are interested in headache and orofacial pain, a group intended to bring together pain practitioners from different specialties including anesthesia, neurology, primary care, psychology, and dentistry to promote interdisciplinary idea exchange and research collaboration and education.

Chair: Meredith Barad, MD

Interdisciplinary Pain Medicine

A group that itself is interdisciplinary in nature and focuses on supporting research that identifies best practices across disciplines; assessing and overcoming barriers to delivery of interdisciplinary pain treatment; and educating providers on interdisciplinary pain treatment approaches.

Co-Chair: James W. Atchison, DO; Ravi Prasad, PhD

Interventional Pain Medicine and Neuromodulation

The mission of the Interventional Pain Medicine and Neuromodulation Shared Interest Group is to support interventional pain medicine through:

• Research and evaluation by identifying knowledge gaps and providing a framework for projects to improve these gaps.
• Educational programming for various AAPM endeavors including the annual meeting. The programming initiative focuses on a comprehensive approach to identify indications and outcomes for interventions as part of a comprehensive and multidisciplinary pain medicine strategy.
• Mentorship for younger practitioners through a program for faculty and career development and networking.
• The development of a comprehensive evaluation of interventions, non-invasive and invasive techniques, used in the multitude of specialties represented in AAPM.
• An inclusive leadership strategy with numerous co-chairs representing the myriad of interventions in this space.

Chair: Amitabh Gulati, MD

Primary Care

Meeting place for primary care providers. Current AAPM primary care-related activities: drafting a white paper on when to refer to a pain specialist.

Chair: Karl Haake, MD
Vice-chair: David J. Tauben, MD FACP

Resident Fellow Education

Develop potential projects and initiatives within pain at the graduate medical education level, and oversee the pain medicine fellowship scholarship program.

Co-chairs: Mark Bicket, MD; Scott G. Pritzlaff, MD CIPS FIPP

Substance Use Disorder

The mission of the Substance Use Disorder Shared Interest Group is to improve clinical care for those with comorbid pain and substance use disorder.

Co-chairs: Jay Kuchera, MD FASAM; Aleksandra Zgierska, MD PhD

Women in Pain Medicine

The Women in Pain Medicine SIG aims to recruit women to the subspecialty. In addition it will work with AAPM to ensure diversity within committees, panels, and leadership. Furthermore, the SIG will consider professional offerings, such as a speed mentoring session, at the annual AAPM meeting to recruit more early career, and diverse individuals to participate more fully within AAPM.

Co-chairs: Susan Moeschler, MD; Stephanie Neuman, MD

Didn’t find the SIG you were looking for?

Learn how to create a new AAPM SIG.