Pain Management

The major goal of training is to provide the knowledge and skill needed by an anesthesiologist in order to practice Pain Medicine. A twelve-month Pain Medicine Fellowship, fully accredited by American Board of Anesthesiology and the ACGME, is offered at NYU Langone Medical Center, VA Hospital and Bellevue, through the Department of Anesthesiology, to candidates who have successfully completed residencies in Anesthesiology or other specialties. Each year, four fellows are given comprehensive didactic and clinical training in pain medicine as well as one month selective rotation in the fields of rehabilitation, neurology, and psychiatry. Completion of this program allows the fellows to sit for the American Board of Pain Medicine exam or the added qualification in Pain Management of the American Board of Anesthesiology.

All second year anesthesiology residents rotate in the Pain Center to acquire knowledge and develop skills in pain diagnosis, therapeutic judgment, clinical care, teaching, administration, and research in pain management. The multi-hospital experience offers the trainee a broad diversity of clinical pain problems, facilitating the development of the requisite clinical skills and knowledge. Finally, elective rotations are offered to third-year residents who desire increased exposure to Pain Management during their regular residency.

Training is accomplished through didactic teaching as well as clinical responsibilities. Trainees and attendings participate in twice weekly lectures on selected topics, a biweekly journal club, weekly interdisciplinary chart rounds conferences, and biweekly case presentations. Clinical responsibilities involve working closely with Pain attendings and assuming major responsibility for clinical care at Tisch, VA Hospital, Bellevue Hospital and the Hospital for Joint Disease in acute and chronic inpatient and outpatient care.