PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Let’s Get the Job Done!pme_1391 622

I am pleased to report that this year’s Annual Meeting inPalm Springs, CA, enjoyed record attendance of morethan 1,000 in attendance, with over 179 scientific postersand 100 exhibitors present. We had the privilege ofhearing from experts in the forefront of Pain Medicinethroughout the week and the opportunity to hear frominternationally renowned experts in pain, including thisyear’s keynote speaker Linda R. Watkins, PhD, Distin-guished Professor in the Department of Psychology &Center for Neuroscience at the University of Colorado atBoulder. Dr. Watkins presented breaking scientific newson the immune and glial factors within the peripheral andcentral nervous systems that relate to chronic pain statesand how therapeutics targeting key glial activation recep-tors is being approached in clinical trials.

On behalf of the Academy’s Executive Committee, theBoard of Directors, the American Academy of Pain Medi-cine (AAPM) staff, and our members, I would like to for-mally thank our Immediate Past President, Perry G. Fine,MD, for his service to the Academy this past year and inparticular his shepherding of the strategic plan. He hasdone an excellent job in bringing consensus to theExecutive Committee and Board of Directors on busi-ness matters and has kept us moving forward in ourmission.

Dr. Fine challenged us to take the lead on the recentInstitute of Medicine’s report on pain, which advocatesmany of the axioms AAPM has embraced for years andled us with the charge, “This is Our Time!” I will take up thischarge as President and “Get the Job Done!” I havementioned in the past that we will continue to pursuerecognition of Pain Medicine as a primary medical spe-cialty. In addition, I look forward to moving our otherstrategic goals forward. One area of focus is in our edu-cational offerings among medical students and primarycare providers (PCPs). Each year, leading physicians inpain medicine serve on the faculty of the Academy’sEssential Tools for Treating the Patient in Pain™ course,equipping clinicians with the knowledge they need tobetter treat the patient in pain. We are also looking forwardto publishing a position paper that will help equip the PCPwith the information they need to determine when apatient should be referred to a pain medicine specialist.

This will be an invaluable resource to PCPs as a studyshows that they treat approximately 52% of chronic painpatients [1].

I also hope to see the initiation of a patient-oriented painresearch program, to advocate for and develop patient-oriented pain research and scholarship to advance scien-tific knowledge and translate that knowledge into safeand effective therapies for patients with pain. This grantresearch project will provide financial support for resi-dents, fellows, and junior investigators receiving training inscientific methods and research techniques, as well asprovide research project funding support. We will stillpursue participation in pain management data repositorieswhen they become available.

Another accomplishment of Dr. Fine’s tenure as Presidentwas to reinvent the AAPM Foundation. The Foundation’spurpose is to advocate for patient safety by providingfunding support to expand and enhance research andeducation, and to further the development of a recognizedspecialty dedicated to the practice of Pain Medicine. I lookforward to seeing this viable fund-raising entity get off theground and begin to generate funds to further painresearch. Watch for more information on how you can getinvolved in these efforts.

This is your organization and I encourage you to getinvolved in a committee or task force, plan to submit aposter abstract or education proposal for next year’sAnnual Meeting, or support the AAPM Foundation andhelp me take up the charge and “Get the Job Done.”

MARTIN GRABOIS, MDPresident, American Academy of Pain Medicine

Baylor College of MedicineDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Houston, Texas, USA

Reference1 Breuer B, Cruciani R, Portenoy RK. Pain management

by the primary care physicians, pain physicians, chiro-practors, and acupuncturists: A national survey. SouthMed J 2010;103(8):738–47.

bs_bs_banner

Pain Medicine 2012; 13: 622Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

622