Explore these peer-to-peer learning materials to advance your skills in pain management.
Below you will find great CME-eligible resources, including:
- 2 interactive clinical cases
- 7 interactive modules
- Podcast addressing bias and disparities in pain management
- 5 recorded presentations
The ACP Pain Management Learning Series
This series consists of 7 core modules and 2 sets of case studies. The core modules use evidence-based and patient-centered pain management principles to help physicians assess and manage pain. The sets of case studies provide opportunities to practice skills necessary for pain assessment, diagnostic differentials, treatment plans, and patient-centered communication.
Although the modules progress in a linear fashion, each is designed to stand alone and can be viewed independently.
Modules and CME/MOC credit are free to ACP Members. Nonmembers may purchase access to claim CME/MOC credit for each module for $25 or the full package of 7 learning modules and 2 sets of case studies for $199. Note: Many of the materials on this page have been approved for MOC by multiple boards.
ACP Pain Management Cases: Low Back Pain
2 CME
Three case studies provide interactive training on assessment and treatment to improve pain, function, and mood for patients with low back pain.
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ACP Pain Management Cases: Knee Pain
2 CME
Three case studies provide interactive training on assessment and treatment to improve pain, function, and mood for patients with knee pain.
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ACP Pain Management 1: Pain Fundamentals
1 CME
Refresh your understanding of pain pathophysiology, risk factors for development of chronic pain, and clinical principles guiding care for individuals with chronic pain.
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ACP Pain Management 2: Pain Assessment
2.5 CME
Use evidence-based tools to assess pain, function, and mood for patients with chronic pain.
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ACP Pain Management 3: Pain Management Principles
2 CME
Identify principles of effective patient-centered care for chronic pain, including shared decision making, goal setting, and behavioral change management.
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ACP Pain Management 4: Nonpharmacologic Therapies
2 CME
Learn about therapeutic exercise and other nonsurgical modalities used to alleviate pain.
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ACP Pain Management 5: Nonopioid Pharmacotherapy
2 CME
Review medication selection principles, conversation frameworks, considerations for specific pain syndromes, and pharmacotherapy considerations related to concomitant conditions.
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ACP Pain Management 6: Opioid Therapy
4 CME
Learn considerations for appropriate prescription of opioids for the treatment of pain, including how to initiate and adjust opioid therapy, how to identify and mitigate side effects and risks, when to taper, and how to taper or discontinue safely.
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ACP Pain Management 7: Opioid Use Disorder
5 CME
Review evidence-based approaches to care for persons with opioid use disorder (OUD), including those persons with co-occurring chronic pain.
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Podcasts
The DEI Shift podcast “Addressing Bias and Disparities in Pain Management" 0.75 CME features Amber Brooks, MD, a board-certified anesthesiologist and comprehensive pain management physician. This episode examines the management of acute and chronic pain, focuses on bias that can manifest in treating those with chronic pain, and explores how physicians and members of the health care team can address disparities in groups that have been historically marginalized.
Ethics Case Study
All physicians have a duty to develop core competencies of primary palliative care: symptom management; patient/family education about this; and communication skills necessary to ensure shared, informed decision-making tailored to the needs and values of the patient. In this case study, Pain Management Near the End-of-Life: What Would Mom Want? authors Drs. Eduardo Bruera, Kari Esbensen, and Lois Snyder Sulmasy, JD present a case history and offer commentary on end-of-life care.
Recorded Video Presentations
This ongoing series of expert-driven presentations provides supplementary information related to various aspects of pain management or specific pain conditions.
- X-Express: The ABCs of Prescribing Buprenorphine 1 CME: Learn how to recognize opioid use disorder, determine which patients are appropriate for buprenorphine, and initiate and manage buprenorphine in patients with acute or chronic pain.
- Optimizing Pain Management in an Era of Opioid De-escalation 6 CME: ACP’s six-hour collection of virtual lectures and discussions is designed to highlight best practices in treating and managing pain, a condition that affects millions of patients every year.
- Back Pain: Get Your Patient Back in the Game 1 CME: Obidiugwu Kenrik Duru, MD, MSHS, discusses the prevalence, assessment and treatment of acute and chronic low back pain. This session was originally presented at IMM 2019.
- Chronic Pain: Beyond Opioids 1 CME: Cindy A. McGeary, PhD, ABPP and Donald McGeary, PhD, ABPP discuss the full spectrum of chronic pain from its epidemiology through assessment and treatment. This presentation was recorded for IMM 2020 and was included as part of the CME30 Package.
- Osteoarthritis: What Works? 1 CME: Eric Ruderman, MD, discusses the prevalence and impact of osteoarthritis and current best practices for treatment and pain mitigation.
Pain Management Learning Collaborative
ACP’s Center for Quality is engaging practices in New Jersey and Minnesota in pain management quality improvement projects utilizing the ACP Advance Quality Improvement Curriculum. Relevant materials and findings from the projects will be added here as they become available.
Advisory Committee
This project has been supported and guided by the interdisciplinary ACP Pain Management Advisory Committee. Learn more
Advisory Committee
Rosie Bartel
Patient Advisor and Author
Chilton, Wisconsin
Jason Beneciuk, PT, DPT, PhD, MPH
Research Assistant Professor
Department of Physical Therapy
University of Florida
Interim Director
Brooks – PHHP Research Collaboration
Brooks Rehabilitation Clinical Research Center
Roger Chou, MD
Professor of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology
Director Pacific Northwest Evidence-based Practice Center
Oregon Health and Science University
Portland, Oregon
Ann Garment, MD
Clinical Associate Professor
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Health + Hospitals/Bellevue
New York, New York
Barbara Kivowitz, MSW
Patient Family Advisor and Author
San Francisco, CA
Heather Laird-Fick MD, MPH, FACP
Professor, Dept. of Medicine
Director of Assessment, Shared Discovery Curriculum
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
Lansing, Michigan
Tara Jo Manal PT, DPT, FAPTA
Director of Clinical Services and Residency Training
Associate Professor
Board-Certified Sports Clinical Specialist
Board-Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist
University of Delaware Physical Therapy Department
Newark, Delaware
Charles Reznikoff, MD, FACP
Addiction Medicine, Internal Medicine, Hennepin Healthcare
Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School
Minneapolis, MN
Lisa A. Wallace MSN, APRN, FNP-BC
Nurse Practitioner
ChristianaCare Health System
Addiction Consult Liaison Service
Newark, DE
Daniel Zlott, PharmD
Senior Vice President, Education and Business Development
American Pharmacists Association
Washington, DC
ACP Staff Advisory Committee Member
Davoren Chick, MD, FACP
Senior Vice President, Medical Education
Adjunct Professor of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Ryan Crowley
Senior Associate, Health Policy
Nick Gogno
Manager, CME and Instructional Design
Kara Regis
Manager, Digital Products and Services
Cheryl Rusten, MPA
Manager, Medical Education
Tabassum Salam, MD, FACP, MBA
Vice President, Medical Education
Cynthia (Daisy) Smith, MD, FACP
Vice President, Medical Education
Adjunct Professor of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Selam Wubu, MPH
Director, Center for Quality
Accreditation
The American College of Physicians is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Learn more
Accreditation
The American College of Physicians is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The American College of Physicians designates each enduring material for the number AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ listed below. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Successful completion of each CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to the indicated number of medical knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.
- Pain Fundamentals: 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Pain Assessment: 2.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Pain Management Principles: 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Non-Pharmacologic Therapy: 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Non-Opioid Therapy: 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Opioid Therapy: 4 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Opioid Use Disorder: 5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Knee Cases: 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Back Cases: 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Osteoarthritis-What Works: 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Back Pain-Get Your Patient Back in the Game: 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Chronic Pain-Beyond Opioids: 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
This Learning Hub and its contents are supported by an independent education grant funded by Pfizer, Inc., in partnership with Lilly USA, LLC.