Fellowship Details & Requirements

Our GME Office has preliminary eligibility requirements that all prospective trainees must meet before applying for a training program at our institution. In addition to these criteria, our program also includes the following requirements:  

• Curriculum vitae
• Personal statement

Other items that may be required for application:  

• Three letters of recommendation: If currently in a residency program, one additional letter of good standing from the program director indicating trainee standing and expected completion with the program is required.
• USMLE, COMLEX, FLEX scores report
• Medical transcripts
• Medical diploma: copy
• Certificate of training completion – copy for each certification
  

Interested in applying? Let us know why you want to join our program.

The primary objective of the fellowship program is to teach future leaders in pain medicine the medical knowledge, clinical decision-making, and procedural skills sufficient to function as expert consultants in the field of pain medicine. This includes the management of straightforward and complex pain syndromes in ambulatory and hospitalized patients.  Fellows should be able to manage such problems, even when complicated by the presence of other symptoms, complex medical illness, and psychological distress. Fellows will develop these skills through attending didactic sessions, completing thorough patient evaluations, discussion of differential diagnoses and possible treatment options, selection of interventional procedures, and performance of these procedures when appropriate. The following goals and objectives address the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) general competencies and those of the fellowship program itself. 

Patient Care and Interpersonal Communication 

• To provide patient care that is honest, compassionate, appropriate, and effective to assess and treat pain. 
• To actively participate in an information exchange about pain management in patient care with patients, their families and other health professionals. 
• To provide patient-focused care while gathering essential and accurate information. 
• To make informed decisions about diagnostic and therapeutic interventions based on patient information and preferences, documented scientific evidence and clinical judgment. 
• To demonstrate ethical decision-making skills in communicating with or counseling patients and their families. 
• To establish and carry out follow-up plans for patients. To develop a proactive approach to managing patient and family expectations and needs. 
• To perform competently all procedures considered essential for the area of practice. 
• To create and sustain therapeutic and ethically sound relationships with patients. 
• To use effective listening skills and provide information using effective nonverbal, explanatory, questioning, and writing skills. 

Medical Knowledge

• To understand established and evolving biomedical, clinical, and cognate (e.g., epidemiological and social-behavioral) sciences and the application of this knowledge to patient care. 
• To know and apply the basic and clinically supportive sciences applicable to pain management patient care. 
• To understand and gain expertise in the pathophysiology, assessment, and management of acute, chronic and cancer pain and the related component symptoms (e.g., depression, anxiety, delirium, cachexia, and dyspnea). 
• To become familiar with the pharmaco-kinetics and pharmaco-dynamics of all major drug groups, as well as other medicine (opioids, antidepressants, anti-epileptics, antiemetics and psychotropics) where appropriate. 
• To understand the implications, benefits, and risks of anesthetic and neurosurgical procedures to control pain, including local anesthetic and neurolytic blocks, vertebral augmentation, and implantation and maintenance of spinal cord stimulators and spinal drug delivery systems. 
• To comprehend the principles of long-term rehabilitation as applied to malignant and nonmalignant pain. 
• To understand the principles of acute pain management, epidural management and intravenous patient-controlled analgesia use. 
• To become familiar with psychological assessment and treatment techniques, including behavioral therapy, hypnosis, acupuncture, and the methodological and content aspects of pain management research. 
• To reach a consultant level in the expert prescription of a complex pharmacopoeia. 

Practice-Based Learning and Improvement 

• To gain hands-on experience in anesthetic procedures used to treat malignant and nonmalignant pain. 
• To acquire a diverse understanding of the principles, philosophy, and knowledge/ skills of pain management and how a pain management clinic operates. To analyze practice experience and improve practice-based activities using a systematic methodology. 
• To critically appraise pain management literature and research methodologies. To apply knowledge of study designs and statistical methods to the appraisal of clinical studies. 
• To utilize information technology to support patient care decisions and education, to access online medical information and to support their own education. 
• To participate and assist in presentations, lectures and facilitating the learning of all other health professionals. 
• To act as an effective advocate for the rights of the patient and family in clinical situations involving serious ethical conditions. 

Professionalism 

• To pursue a commitment to excellence and ongoing professional development. 
• To demonstrate respect, integrity and accountability while maintaining responsiveness to the needs of patients and society that supersedes self-interest. 
• To adhere to an agreement to carry out professional responsibilities. 
• To apply sensitivity to the culture, age, gender, and disabilities of patients. 

Systems-Based Practice 

• To understand the health care organizational structure of other health care professionals and society in general and how these elements affect their practice. To assist institutional and community pain management programs in developing standards of care. 
• To become familiar with the process of developing curriculum for pain management. 
• To understand the organization and reimbursement for pain management services. 
• To understand how types of medical practice and delivery systems differ from one another, including methods of controlling health care costs and allocating resources. 
• To practice cost-effective health care that does not compromise the quality of patient care. 
• To network with other health care managers and health care providers to assess, coordinate and improve health care and know how these activities can affect system performance. 

Didactic sessions are scheduled throughout the week. Fellows are expected to attend all sessions and should be relieved from clinical responsibilities to do so. During each week, at least one day is planned free of didactic activities.  The fellowship didactics are structured into eight blocks: Pathophysiology, Exam/Assessment, Pharmacotherapy, Basic Spinal Origins of Pain, Advanced Spinal Origins of Pain, Cancer Pain/Palliative Medicine, Special Topics (headache, acute pain, geriatrics, pediatrics, parturients), and Business of Medicine. 

Pain Seminar: Weekly didactic seminars based on ACGME core curriculum topics. The information content is generally derived from the textbook Practical Management of Pain, By Benzon and colleagues. Fellows are expected to read the assigned chapter prior to the lecture. These lectures are delivered by faculty and will follow the block themes outlined above. 

Other educational activities include: 

GME Core Curriculum: Institutional lecture series exploring the basic science and clinical treatment of cancer. Once monthly.  

EBM Journal Club:  Educational modules sorted by blocks to include didactics on evidence- based medicine and structured analysis of seminal publications in the field of pain medicine. Fellows are expected to read and critically evaluate all papers prior to the sessions. Fellows will provide critical analysis of a single article and discuss the implications in clinical practice.  

Journal Club: Bi-monthly conference to evaluate, analyze and discuss the latest publications in pain medicine. Fellows will be expected to present at least one journal club with a faculty mentor.  

Morbidity and Mortality (M&M): Monthly conference to review cases with unexpected outcomes or novel techniques. Fellows will be expected to present at least one journal club with a faculty mentor.  

Quality Improvement (QI) Certificate: All GME fellows at MD Anderson are required to complete an “Essentials of Quality Improvement” Certificate in order to complete graduation. Instructions will be given by the GME office. Fellows will then present their QI project at the end of the fellowship year. 

• Board Vitals 
• Pain Rounds – an online neuromodulation curriculum 
• Stanford 25 – online resource for physical exam videos 
• Spine Intervention Society (SIS) – Free membership for trainees with access to case reviews, job postings, hands on events, and discounted online courses.  

Recommended Books:

• Practical Management of Pain (5th Ed.). Benzon, Rathmell, et. al. Elsevier 2014. ISBN 9780323083409  
• Atlas of Pain Medicine Procedures (1st Ed.) Diwan and Staats. McGraw-Hill, 2014. ISBN-10: 0071738762 
• *Bonica’s Management of Pain (4th Ed.), Fishman, Ballantyne, Rathmell. Lippincott 2009. ISBN-10: 0781768276 
• *Atlas of Image-Guided Interventions in Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (2nd Ed.), Rathmell. Lippincott 2011.  ISBN-10: 1608317048 
• Complications in Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (2nd Ed.), Neal and Rathmell. Lippincott 2012. ISBN-10: 1451109784
• Access the recommended books here.

Recommended Journals:

• Pain  
• Journal of Pain 
• Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine Anesthesiology 
• Anesthesia & Analgesia 
• Pain Physician 
• Pain Medicine Journal 
• Access the recommended journals here.

Evidence Based Medicine:

• PubMed 
• Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
• DynaMed 
• UpToDate 

Many of our esteemed faculty members within MD Anderson's Pain Medicine department began their careers as fellows in the very same program they now lead or support. Saba Javed, M.D., is one of them. 

She participated in MD Anderson’s Summer Experience Program which was her first opportunity to work with the clinical side of research. She loved being a part of the nation’s No. 1 cancer center where research is directly impacting patients with cancer.  

After graduating from medical school, she completed her Pain Medicine fellowship at MD Anderson and eventually was hired as a full-time faculty member. She says that practicing medicine at MD Anderson combines her love of research with patient care and teaching as co-director of MD Anderson’s Pain Medicine fellowship program. 

Our trainees have the opportunity to work alongside leading  cancer experts at MD Anderson and institutions across the Texas Medical Center. Additionally, our trainees receive exceptional support from the fellowship leadership team: 

Juana Villareal 
Administrative Director 
Email: JMVillar@MDAnderson.org 

Monique Rodriguez 
Program Coordinator 
Email: MJValdez@mdanderson.org 

In addition to gaining unparalleled education and training experience, MD Anderson trainees have access to exceptional resources and benefits to help them build meaningful careers and lead fulfilling lives.

Institutional benefits and support

GME trainees’ salary stipends are updated every year based on the ACGME’s recommendations, and because our trainees are considered workforce members, they also enjoy MD Anderson’s employee benefits, including health insurance, retirement planning, disability insurance and six weeks of parental leave.

Our GME House Staff Senate offers trainees the opportunity to experience a leadership role in a medical field career, and the institution’s Academic Mentoring Council provides avenues to secure tailored academic mentoring from faculty. Our GME trainees benefit from the extensive support offered to our research trainees, too; they are invited to participate in grant application workshops, apply for pilot grants to support their research ideas and receive monetary awards for securing extramural grant funding.

Trainee wellness is also of utmost importance at MD Anderson.

Our trainees have access to MD Anderson’s employee networks, fitness center and other wellness resources provided by the institution. Additionally, our Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC), which provides oversight of our accredited programs, regularly assess our trainees’ needs and implements various initiatives, such as providing free call meals and discounted parking to GME House Staff, to address those gaps. The committee even has a subcommittee entirely dedicated to supporting the wellness of our trainees.

Our efforts to ensure a welcoming and supportive education and training experience have been commended nationally. In 2023, the Office of Graduate Medical Education received the DeWitt C. Baldwin, Jr. Award, a prestigious national award that recognizes our institution for its respectful and supportive environment for delivering medical education and patient care.

Beyond MD Anderson

MD Anderson’s location has many benefits, too. Our main campus is nestled inside the Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical center which boasts about 10 million patient encounters each year. Many of our faculty are involved in interorganizational research collaborations, both within the TMC and across the nation, exposing trainees to groundbreaking advancements in medical care in real time.

Most importantly, the city of Houston is a great place to call home and raise a family. We are one of the most culturally diverse cities in the nation. More than 145 different languages are spoken across the city, placing us behind only New York and Los Angeles. In fact, about 30% of the city’s population speaks a language other than English at home. And, paychecks here stretch farther than most U.S. metro areas, thanks to our low cost of living.

Visit our Why Houston page to learn more about our city’s affordable housing, fine dining, entertainment scene, nationally renowned museums and other great attributes.