Pain Medicine

One of the most distressing symptoms of any disease is pain. In the United States alone, millions of people suffer from cancer pain. However, many people do not report their pain or seek appropriate treatment. False beliefs that compromise effective pain management include:

• Physicians might stop treatment when pain is reported
• Pain indicates the spreading of cancer
• Pain is "normal"
• Pain medicines cause addiction and harsh side effects

Pain Medicine is dedicated to finding the best treatment options for patients with cancer pain.

To do this efficiently, we have divided up our section into two different services to provide care. The Cancer Pain Service works with both inpatient and outpatients to manage their pain. The Postoperative Pain Service assists patients that have pain after surgery.

We serve the MD Anderson community by:

• Making quality patient care our No. 1 priority
• Offering comprehensive, interdisciplinary cancer pain management services
• Facilitating maximum pain control, minimizing treatment-related side effects, and maintaining a patient's optimum wellness
• Upholding MD Anderson's core values of caring, integrity and discovery
• Striving to care for the whole person, physically, emotionally and spiritually
• Participating in clinical trials to continuously improve our services
• Educating the professional, patient and public sectors about pain assessment and management techniques
• Acting as pain management activists to help define proactive, patient-focused care
• Staffing our services with compassionate and caring health care professionals

The MD Anderson Pain Medicine Fellowship Program is a one-year, ACGME-accredited program dedicated to training future pain medicine physicians in evidence-based, patient-centered care, aligned with MD Anderson’s values of caring, integrity, and discovery. Fellows gain comprehensive experience in pain management through interactive teaching and diverse didactic experiences. They work in a multidisciplinary environment, treating a wide range of pain conditions, from acute and chronic to malignant and nonmalignant pain. The program covers the full spectrum of pain treatments, including medical, interventional, psychological, and rehabilitation techniques. By the end of the fellowship, physicians are equipped to manage complex pain syndromes
with advanced pharmacologic therapies and interventional procedures.

In addition to the one-year accredited program, the MD Anderson Pain Fellowship Program offers an opportunity to complete a two-year clinical research fellowship for eligible applicants. The clinical research fellowship is ideal for any future pain physician hoping to launch a career into academic pain medicine. Under the mentorship of Professor and Chair, Dr. Salahadin Abdi, the clinical research fellow will complete one year of guided clinical research in pain medicine followed by one year of clinical pain fellowship. Learn more about the program here.