About the Course

The Need

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) in its 2011 report “Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, and Research,” found that pain is a significant public health problem, with chronic pain alone affecting at least 116 million US adults. The aging of the US population also means that a growing number of Americans will experience disease with which chronic pain is associated, and the resulting burden of disability. However, currently, large numbers of Americans receive inadequate pain prevention, assessment, and treatment, which exacts a huge toll in suffering and disability, and imposes extraordinary costs on the healthcare system and the nation’s economy.

The IOM committee identified primary care as the most frequent first stop for patients with pain, and primary care physicians (PCPs) are responsible for writing the majority of pain medicine prescriptions. Almost 40% of adult primary care visits involve a pain complaint, but multiple studies find that the majority of PCPs feel unprepared to manage pain, due to insufficient medical school and residency training, and experience low satisfaction with providing pain care. Add to this poor patient-provider relationships with unsatisfied patients, and the risk management practices required of prescribers of controlled substances, and many PCPs feel overwhelmed.

The Course

To address this problem, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Office of Continuing Medical Education (JHOCME) is launching a comprehensive online continuing medical education (CME) course titled “Johns Hopkins Certificate in Pain Management for Primary Care Physicians.” Because PCPs differ in their available time and specific interests, a flexible modular approach and time frame are utilized. The curriculum offers 40+ hours of online CME—a minimum of 32 hours is required to achieve a certificate of completion, but PCPs can work at their preferred pace, so long as they complete the requirements within 1 year. Core modules address competencies required for PCPs, while PCPs select elective modules that are relevant to their patient populations and practice. The Web-based learning platform consists of live and enduring activities delivered by the world-class Johns Hopkins faculty. These include:
  • Webinars/teleconferences
  • Videos
  • Case studies
  • Simulated patient encounters
  • Expert panel discussion
  • Written materials
  • Small group discussions
PCPs can interact with the faculty one-on-one during office hours via telephone conferences and can submit Ask-the-Experts clinical questions, as well as interact with their peers via topic-specific chat rooms and intranet email. The goals are to provide busy PCPs with the knowledge and skills to manage multiple types of pain in diverse patient populations, utilize responsible risk management principles when prescribing drugs with abuse liability, and make well-informed referrals for treatments outside their scope of practice. The ultimate purpose is to improve the management of patients’ pain and optimize patient safety.

The Curriculum

The course curriculum will consist of the following modules, for which JHOCME will provide AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Core Modules:
  • Pharmacologic pain management
  • Clinical assessment of pain
  • Chronic pain (definitions, types, and forms of pain)
  • Nonpharmacologic pain management
  • Psychologic/behavioral aspects of pain
  • Acute pain
  • Risk management when prescribing opioids (consistent with US Food and Drug Administration opioid Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy requirements)
  • Basic science of pain neurophysiology
  • Human and social costs of pain
  • Disability and pain
    • In addition:
  • Basic-level overview of select elective modules
Elective Modules:
  • Interventional pain management
  • Geriatric pain
  • Pediatric pain
  • Cancer pain/palliative care
  • Surgical options for pain management
  • Culture and ethnicity
  • Practice management
  • Patient-provider relationship
    • In addition:
  • Advanced level of select core modules

Why Take the Course?

The certificate will distinguish you as a knowledgeable, skilled, and committed primary care professional in managing pain, enhance your patients’ outcomes and safety, fulfill CME requirements, and enhance your professional marketability.

Graduates can keep their knowledge up-to-date by continuing to participate in CME activities for up to 3 years at no additional charge.

Registration Discount

The registration fee is $1,500, but to be issued a 30% discount code, which you will be able to use once registration opens, please complete and submit the following form. We will contact you by email to alert you once enrollment for the first class in 2013 opens.

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* Please complete the following information

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* Are you a PCP practicing in the United States?

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