Curriculum

 

Mentor: Victoria Thornton MD

PGY-1 The first year postgraduate physician will concentrate on acquiring the fundamentals of symptom management with a particular emphasis on pain management. This will include a curriculum of reading materials from textbooks, and emergency medicine, geriatric, hospice and palliative medicine journals. Additionally, during the first year, the participant will apply for an American Pain Society scholarship award which enables attendance at the Society's 2-day "Essentials of Pain Management" course, and the related annual scientific assembly.

 

PGY-2 In the second postgraduate year, the resident physician will continue to hone symptom management skills, and will participate as a research coordinator of a multidisciplinary emergency department research project involving patients with chronic pain syndromes, or palliative care needs. During this year, the participant will attend the EPEC-EM (Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care for Emergency Medicine) Trainer course, as well as a course which targets palliative care of a minority or special needs patient population such as APPEAL (A Progressive Palliative Care Education Curriculum for the Care of African-Americans at the End of Life), or Magnified and Sanctified © for Jewish communities : Jewish Ritual, Reality and Response at the End of Life, or Suffer the Children © for children who are seriously ill or dying.

 

PGY-3 The third year postgraduate physician will present at least one lecture at the Emergency Medicine resident lecture series on a topic gleaned from the prior two years' experience, whether from the educational programs or from the research project. The resident physician will continue the research project, with a goal of publication of at least one article in a peer reviewed journal that describes the objectives, methods and outcomes.

 

Pain Management and Palliative Medicine Track

 

Mentor: V. Thornton MD

 

Objectives:

 

(1) To provide the requisite symptom management knowledge, including pharmacotherapy and procedural experience, to allow the resident to develop an adequate armamentarium of clinical skills involving pain management and symptom palliation.

(2) To develop knowledge, skills, and cultural competence in end-of-life issues in emergency medicine

(3) To introduce and refine skills of clinical research in the area of pain management of chronic pain syndromes and end-of-life issues in emergency medicine

(4) To foster the development of a network of pain management and palliative care professionals who will assist in furthering the participant's future career goals

(5) To prepare the resident physician for fellowship training in hospice and palliative medicine

 

 

Duration: 2 ½ years

 

General Requirements:

 

PGY1: Attendance at the American Pain Society "Essentials of Pain Management" and scientific assembly. Review of a reading list including pain management and palliative medicine textbooks and journal articles.

 

PGY2: Attendance at the weekly Duke Palliative Care conference as schedule permits, minimum 4 conferences.

Certification as an EPEC-EM (Education in Palliative and End of Life Care in Emergency Medicine) Trainer and attendance at a palliative medicine conference that targets minority or special needs patients.

Participation in a multidisciplinary emergency department research project involving patients with chronic pain syndromes or palliative care needs

PGY3: Attendance at the weekly Duke Palliative Care conference as schedule permits, minimum 4 conferences.

Continued participation in an already established clinical research project or development and participation in a new clinical research project focusing on quality of care of chronic pain or palliative care patients

 

 

 

Scholarly projects opportunities: Presentation of an abstract at an emergency medicine or pain management scientific meeting from the analysis of a clinical research project. Publication of at least one article in a peer reviewed journal that describes the objectives, methods and outcomes of the clinical research project.

 

 

Core Content Lecture Topics: Presentation of two (2) lectures in the Emergency Medicine Conference lecture series on a topic gleaned from the prior two years' experience, one topic reflecting pain management or palliative care knowledge gained from the educational programs, the other presentation focused on the research project.

 

 

PI project: Participation in the analysis of a clinical research project that will result in a presentation of an abstract at an emergency medicine or pain management scientific meeting.

 

Funding requests: ( Travel, educational projects) Travel costs associated with conference attendance in the PGY-2 (EPEC-EM $1500; APPEAL $250, Suffer the Children $450) and PGY 3 years (ACEP, APS, IASP $1500). Costs associated with educational projects such as the production of a abstract/poster in the PGY-2 year ($150), and support staff for the publication in the PGY-3 year($600).