Didactic Teaching Program

Didactics take place Monday through Thursday (unless otherwise specified) at 7:15 am before the start of daily clinical responsibilities. Our didactic schedule follows a "Theme of the Month" scheme. Examples of some themes are Basic science related to pain, Low back pain, Neck Pain, Cancer pain and palliative care, pediatric pain, pharmacology in pain etc. 
Make up presentations can utilize Friday morning optional time. The different components of our didactic program are outlined below.

Pain Clinic Monthly QA/QI Meeting

This meeting takes place on the 2nd Monday every month in the evening after the Pain Clinic Huddle.

Clinical conferences (every 1st, 3rd, 5th Monday morning)

Fellows/residents/faculty will decide on an interesting case from clinic or case reports for discussion. Materials to read and questions to be discussed on the topic are sent out by the presenter at least one week prior to the scheduled conference. 

QA/QI meetings (every 2nd and 4th Monday of even months)

This will be in the format of presentation and discussion.
Fellows/residents/faculty/nursing staff can place a case or scenario which require possible quality improvement in pain clinic and should present that in conference. 

Morbidity and mortality conference (every 2nd Monday of even months)

In the format of presentation and discussion addressing complications and near miss events. A PowerPoint presentation must be made for each morbidity and mortality conference and submitted to the fellowship coordinator. 

Fellows’ hours for resident teaching (every Tuesday morning)

This session is formal teaching of the residents / interns / outside rotators by the pain medicine fellows. A PowerPoint presentation is made for each topic and at a minimum these topics are covered by the pain medicine fellows.

1. Pain rotation orientation and introduction to pain
2. Acute and perioperative pain
3. Pharmacology in chronic pain
4. Introduction to interventional chronic pain
5. Multi-disciplinary pain management
6. Management of cancer pain
7. Interventional pain in chronic and cancer pain

Pain reading club (every 1st, 3rd, 5th Wednesday morning)  

Reading club materials are chosen by the fellows guided by the theme of the month and are distributed by the administrative fellow approximately 10 days prior to the scheduled reading club. Questions to be discussed are sent at least 5 days prior to the scheduled reading club. 

Pain conference (every 2nd and 4th Wednesday morning)

This typically involves presentations by faculty from within or outside our department for lectures based on the theme of the month.  

Pain fellow presentation (every 1st Thursday morning)

Each fellow is responsible for choosing a topic to present to the department twice during the year. Fellow should demonstrate understanding and assimilation of the topic and prepare a PowerPoint presentation.
The PowerPoint presentation should be submitted to Program Coordinator. 

Pain journal club (every 2nd and 4th Thursday morning)

Journal club materials are chosen by the fellows based on the theme of the month and are distributed by the administrative fellow 1 week prior to the journal club.  

Pain seminars (every 3rd and 5th Thursday morning)

Presentation format. This time can be used for outside speakers based on the theme of the month 

Attendance

Fellows are expected to attend all of the didactics when not engaged in patient care, ill, on vacation, post-call, PICU, on an away rotation, or attending an approved meeting. While conference attendance is required, a fellow is not required to attend conference/lecture if doing so would cause a duty hour violation. The fellowship coordinator tracks attendance at educational activities. Fellows are expected to attend 90% of the didactic lectures and Clinical Case Conferences. If a conference/lecture is missed in order to avoid a duty hour violation or the fellow cannot attend due to clinical obligations, the fellow should notify the fellowship coordinator and the fellow will be officially excused from that educational activity. All fellows must scan the badge reader to get credit for attendance