Wednesday, July 16, 2014
St Joseph's Health Care London
Taking Aim at Pain: St Joseph's and Western University are the first in Canada to host the newly accredited pain medication residency training program
Even before 32-year-old Dr. Michael Pariser officially completes all his medical training, he has become a pioneer in Canadian medicine. The Ingersoll native is one of the first medical residents in Canada to begin training in the newly accredited pain medicine residency program.
After seven years of lobbying by Dr. Pat Morley-Forster, medical director of the Pain Management Program of St. Joseph's Health Care London and professor of anesthesiology at Western University's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and St. Joseph's became the first medical school and academic teaching hospital in Canada to host the training program.
The two-year residency program includes one full year at St. Joseph's outpatient pain management clinic where residents will learn from experts from various disciplines. Other rotations consist of neurology, psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and pediatric pain for comprehensive training in the treatment of and rehabilitation for acute, chronic and cancer pain conditions.
Dr. Pariser is one of two residents who have begun the training in London. He is joined by Dr. Amjad Bader of Saudi Arabia.
"I think care for chronic pain is something that hasn't been done as well as it should be in the Canadian system," says Dr. Pariser, a Schulich Medicine graduate who recently completed a residency in anesthesiology in London. "If you have specialities and fellowships like this, then care, and access to care, will improve. That's what I'm most excited about."
The specialty training comes at a critical time. Chronic pain affects about 25 per cent of the Canadian adult population, rising to 50 per cent in the elderly, says Dr. Morley-Forster. At the same time, there has been a gap in the availability of specialized care for chronic pain and in the training of medical students and young doctors. The hope for new pain specialists like Dr. Pariser and Dr. Bader is not only to become experts in the field, she says, but also be "leaders and ambassador" for this new discipline.
Dr. Bader, who completed his undergraduate medical degree in Saudi Arabia and a residency in anesthesiology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, will be bringing his expertise back to Saudi Arabia. In Canada, Dr. Pariser sees an opportunity to "de-stigmatize pain" and be an advocate for people with chronic pain, which he says is often seen as a failure of moral character rather than a medical problem.
"Everyone is one traffic light, one kitchen accident, one cancer problem, one surgery, one work-related accident away from having chronic pain happen to them."
Media Contacts:
Dahlia Reich
Communication Consultant
St. Joseph's Health Care London
519-646-6100 ext 65294, pager 10117
dahlia.reich@sjhc.london.on.ca
Crystal Mackay
Media Relations Officer
Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University
519-661-2111 ext 80387, cell: 519-777-1573
crystal.mackay@schulich.uwo.ca
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