Interdisciplinary pain medicine and postoperative pain medicine

The curriculum of the subject pain therapy as a subarea of anesthesiology is aimed at all prospective physicians who will in future treat patients with acute and chronic pain. Guest students are also welcome to attend the lecture series, the seminar with the bedside teaching, as part of the Erasmus programme. The lessons are held in German.

Basics of pain medicine

The sector of pain therapy is a part of the special field of anesthesiology with the further pillars anesthesia and intensive care as well as emergency medicine. The curriculum of pain therapy addresses all physicians-to-be treating patients with acute and chronic pain. Pain is the most common reason why patients consult a doctor. Therefore, each physician should properly identify types of pain and should be able to treat with simple algorithms or further transfer patients in specialized centres.

Contents from the objectives catalogue

The national catalogue of learning objectives in anesthesiology provides for the teaching of basic knowledge, such as the mechanisms of pain development and its chronification, as well as the ability to treat pain in general, to treat tumour pain or neuropathic pain. In addition to the acquisition of competence A, subject-specific and special procedures for the treatment of post-operative and post-traumatic pain therapy are taught for special problems.

Please extract further details concerning the mediated contents and skills of our subject during the courses from the national educational objectives catalogue of the German Society of Anesthesiology (DGAI).

Offers in the field of pain medicine

In the field of pain medicine, our department offers you the following possibilities for participating in clinical courses (amongst others):

Series of lectures interdisciplinary pain medicine

The introductory lecture, Course No. 03100300, is on pain physiology, clinical classification of pain and taking patients' pain history and examination (obligatory).
There are further lectures on the following topics:

  • Clinical pharmacology: non-opioids
  • Clinical pharmacology: opioids
  • Neuropathic pain and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
  • Pain chronification e.g. chronic back pain
  • Classification of headaches and medication–induced headaches
  • Paediatric pain therapy
  • Surgical and invasive pain treatment,
  • Specific pain syndromes: fibromyalgia, somatoform pain disorders
  • Placebo and nocebo,
  • Misuse of pain medication, opioid crisis and addiction.

All lectures will be held in German.

Apart from the teachers of anesthesiology colleagues from neurology, neurosurgery, psychosomatics, pediatrics and psychology are involved.

Q14 seminar interdisciplinary pain therapy (four compulsive sessions)

The course No. 03100600 is an educational objective oriented seminar block organised in small groups (up to a maximum of 20 participants). There is an introductory obligatory lecture followed by four seminars:

  • pain history and examination
  • acute post-operative pain Treatment
  • neuropathic pain
  • chronic pain as well as 
  • an elective module e.g. in paediatric, regional analgesia and psychosomatics.

The course takes place during 1.5 weeks. The examination at the end of the term includes tablet-based multiple-choice questions. Passing the exam is a precondition for obtaining the credits.

Elective course pain and molecular pain research

In this elective course No. 03031000, the latest results from the molecular pain research will be discussed. One of the main tasks is to learn how to present clinical or basic sciences studies in pain research under supervision of a tutor.

The seminar consists of introductory lectures on pain physiology and pain research as well as seminars in the laboratory and in the pain clinic. Up to a maximum of 10 participants are included. The course takes place regularly once a week.

In order to obtain credits, the presentation in German or English will be evaluated together with a 90 percent attendance.

Contact

Portraitfoto: Prof. Dr. med. Heike Rittner

Univ.-Prof. Dr. med.
Heike Rittner

Oberärztin

+49 931 201-30251

Portraitbild von I. Fleißner / Fotograf: Stefan Krummer / Universitätsklinikum Würzburg


Isabelle Fleißner

Studierendensekretariat

+49 931 201-30605

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