In the pain medicine fellowship, you'll work closely with attending physicians in a range of settings, including RUSH University Medical Center, RUSH Oak Park Hospital, the RUSH Surgicenter clinic and affiliated satellite clinics, gaining a sound foundation in pain management principles. You'll manage cases of all levels of complexity for patients of all ages and build competence in a full range of procedures, including regional nerve blocks and placement of intrathecal drug pumps and epidural electrodes and pulse generators for spinal cord stimulation.
Some specific areas of training include the following:
- The anatomy and physiology of pain perception
- Pharmacology of opiates, non-narcotic analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications and centrally-acting pain medicine drugs
- Principles of acute and cancer pain medicine, neurostimulation, diagnostic testing and others
- Use of regional nerve blocks and neurolytic techniques
- Multidisciplinary team management of chronic pain, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and rehabilitation as well as cognitive, behavioral and supportive psychotherapy
- Organization and management of a pain medicine center, including continuing quality improvement, utilization review and program evaluation