PM&R and Pain

[HolyMoly]

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How difficult is it to go from a PM&R residency to a pain fellowship? I am interested in pain medicine but I prefer the PM&R approach to medicine over Anesthesia. Are PM&R residents restricted, for all intensive purposes, to PM&R based pain fellowships (I counted like 11 such programs)?

 

[Finally M3]

How difficult is it to go from a PM&R residency to a pain fellowship? I am interested in pain medicine but I prefer the PM&R approach to medicine over Anesthesia. Are PM&R residents restricted, for all intensive purposes, to PM&R based pain fellowships (I counted like 11 such programs)?

Supposedly, with the new ACGME requirements regarding pain fellowships, Pain spots will be open to Gas, PM&R, Psych, Neuro and possib. Medicine/FP residents (I've heard conflicting rumors regarding that).

However, depending on how the curriculum is, that may not be possible/desirable for some progs (ones that want you to have OR time, lots of acute pain time, etc.).

Personally, I may be leaning more towards an interventional spine fellowship, Pain boarded be damned.

 

[HolyMoly]

What is involved in interventional spine medicine?

 

[Disciple]

Interventional Spine is just a sub-section of interventional pain medicine, with a more in-depth focus on the anatomy and pathophysiology of pain of spinal origin. In other words, practicioners in this field are experts in non-operative spine care, but generally don't practice the full scope of "pain medicine", sometimes by choice, sometimes by training. Physiatrists are naturally well suited for "interventional spine" and are generally sought after by Orthopaedic spine and Neurosurgery groups.

Most interventional physiatrists lean in this direction either in training or when out in practice.

 

[Finally M3]

What is involved in interventional spine medicine?

Also, you're not eligible to sit for Pain boards if you do an interventional spine fellowship. Hospital cert. requirements may want you to be pain board certified, esp. in larger cities.

 

[jsaul]

Also, you're not eligible to sit for Pain boards if you do an interventional spine fellowship. Hospital cert. requirements may want you to be pain board certified, esp. in larger cities.

that it not that common... there are many places who want doctors to come in and do procedures. The more docs that do procedures at their institutions, the more monmey for them. You will not find it difficult to find a hospital or surgery center to do procedures if you are not board certified as long as you document the training you have had. It's money for them...

 

[paz5559]

that it not that common... there are many places who want doctors to come in and do procedures. The more docs that do procedures at their institutions, the more monmey for them. You will not find it difficult to find a hospital or surgery center to do procedures if you are not board certified as long as you document the training you have had. It's money for them...

That's true, but if the anesthesia group that is already ensconced in the institution wants to be the exclusive provider of pain procedures, they can theoretically insist that, in order to obtain credentials, you are ABMS pain board certified (as happened to an colleague who applied for pain privileges in Fort Lauderdale, recently)

 

[jsaul]

That's true, but if the anesthesia group that is already ensconced in the institution wants to be the exclusive provider of pain procedures, they can theoretically insist that, in order to obtain credentials, you are ABMS pain board certified (as happened to an colleague who applied for pain privileges in Fort Lauderdale, recently)

that can happen but from my experiences and others that I know-- the above scenario is rare. Nowadays there are so many surgery centers and hospital outpatient surgery suites being built left and right, they are begging for doctors to come in and bring their patients to do procedures...

If one is well trained and does good work you will get priveledged...