Pain Management in Geriatric Fellowship Training

Abstract

This article reports the results of a survey of 78 accredited geriatric fellowship training programs to explore pain management curricula. Most programs provide settings where pain is a major focus of care while only half required experiences or rotations in these settings. Forty-three percent of programs had no faculty identified as having training or expertise in pain management and few had curriculum focused on pain management. Pain was cited as a curriculum area in need of improvement while major barriers were lack of faculty expertise and competing curriculum content. Optimum training methods were perceived as experience or rotations on inpatient hospice or palliative care units and “bedside” training by geriatrics faculty with expertise in pain management. Development of geriatric faculty with expertise in pain management along with cultivation of hospice or palliative care training settings are needed for geriatric medicine training programs to improve pain management curricula.