Training the Future Leaders of Pain Medicine: AAPM’s Latest Initiatives
In last month’s message, I wrote that training pain medicine physicians is at the heart of the American Academy of Pain Medicine’s mission. We continued our education work in September, announcing an expansion of the AAPM Scholars program, Pain Medicine Training: Enhancing Training for Better Outcomes—Part 2, our 2024-2025 Resident Ambassadors, and extended time to submit your PainConnect 2025 session submissions.
I am thrilled to introduce our 2024 AAPM Scholars Program, a significant milestone in our mission to train pain medicine physicians. This program, to be held on November 16, 2024, at the Center for the Future of Surgery at UCSD, is a testament to the integral role our members play. It is designed to cater to new attending physicians who have completed their Pain Medicine Fellowship within the past two years, and is made possible by the generous educational grant from Mainstay Medical. The program will follow our established Scholars Program of didactic education paired with hands-on workshop training. A full agenda and eligibility training will be available within the next few weeks, further underlining the importance of your participation.
I hope you listened to Pain Medicine Training: Enhancing Training for Better Outcomes Part I last month. Part 2 hosts Dr. Shravani Durbhakula and Dr. Mustafa Broachwala, alongside experts Dr. Scott Pritzlaff and Dr. Sayed Wahezi, dive into critical topics such as extending fellowship duration, mentorship, and enhancing diversity in pain medicine. They explore the potential benefits of structural changes, the impact on trainee accessibility, and the controversies surrounding longer training periods. This episode is essential for educators, trainees, and policymakers interested in shaping the future of pain medicine education and creating a more unified, effective training system.
I am pleased to announce our inaugural AAPM Resident Ambassadors class. The AAPM Resident Ambassador program fosters tomorrow’s leaders in pain medicine. Ambassadors are AAPM’s point of contact at their institutions, and they provide opportunities to engage with AAPM’s pain medicine leaders via virtual networking and exclusive programs during our annual meeting, PainConnect. Please join me in sharing a warm leadership welcome to our new Resident Ambassadors.
Finally, AAPM Annual Meeting Chair Amit Gulati, MD, has extended the deadline to submit your sessions for PainConnect. Open Forum Guest Faculty Submissions Open – AAPM (painconnect.org)
Charles Argoff, MD
AAPM President