Therapies of the Heart

RFI—Guidance on Current Education Curricula for Health Care Professionals Regarding Pain and Opioid Misuse and Use Disorder Response

In a recent blog, I noted that I would share my thoughts about pain management education with the NIH. I did so. A slightly edited form of my letter to the NIH follows. In the original, I included a formal bibliography. In this version, I have used hyperlinks for your convenience.

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Empathy Must Be Included in Pain Management Education

The National Institutes for Health (NIH) has published a Request for Information (RFI) that seeks input from “stakeholders throughout the scientific research and medical education community and the general public regarding the Centers for Excellence in Pain Education (CoEPEs) educational content regarding treating pain and opioid misuse or use disorder.”

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Empathy: An Overdue Prescription

Last week I discussed the phenomenon that, though more women experience pain than men, they are chronically undertreated. Ethnic minorities, including African Americans, are known to be undertreated as well. Not surprisingly, low-income patients experience the same disparity. One could point to subtle gender, class, and racial biases as the reason why such disparities exist.…

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Empathetic Healing

When chronic pain enters the picture, everyone is affected. Few places is this more true than with the role of a caretaker. A caretaker can feel someone else’s pain on an emotional level in ways equal to similar to the physical pain. But a caretaker also has at his or her disposal the amazing healing…

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