Continuing education

Residential courses in pain management are normally available in late February of each year. These are held at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney. Health care professionals who want an intensive update in pain management are welcome to apply.

This two week (Monday - Thursday each week) short course is based on the IASP core curriculum and facilitated by leading specialists in the field of pain management. It is designed for professionals with an interest in learning about current views and approaches to the assessment and management of pain.

Week 1: The Problem of Pain

The first week introduces participants to the extent of the problem and explores pain contributors and assessment. Topic areas include:

• Biopsychosocial aspects of pain
• Neurobiology related to mechanisms of pain
• Pharmacology
• Psychology: assessment
• Research design: clinical trials: epidemiology
• Acute pain assessment
• Case presentations

Week 2: The Management of Pain

In the second week participants explore current principles of pain management. Topic areas include:

• Ethics and legal issues
• Musculoskeletal pain
• Pain in Children
• Pain in the Elderly
• Psychology: intervention
• Cancer pain
• Neuropathic pain
• Chronic pain: multidisciplinary management
• Case presentations

For students enrolled in the Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma or Masters, please note that Week 1 essentially covers Semester 1 content and Week 2 covers semester 2 content of the first year of the program. 

For more information, please see our short course brochure (2008) or contact

Ms Grace Tague
Course Coordinator
Phone:  02 9926 5192
Email: gtague@med.usyd.edu.au