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Deconstructing One Medical School's Pain Curriculum: I. Content Analysis
Ylisabyth S Bradshaw1, Neha Patel Wacks2, Alejandra Perez-Tamayo3
1Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Pain Medicine (Malden, Mass.)
|January 27, 2017
Summary
Medical school curricula often present pain as a symptom, not a disease. A curriculum analysis revealed opportunities to teach pain as a public health issue and a neuron-centered phenomenon.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Pain Research
- Public Health
Background:
- Pain is a complex, multifactorial experience with significant public health implications.
- Current medical education may not adequately address the societal and population-based aspects of pain.
- Understanding pain requires integrating neurobiological and socio-environmental perspectives.
Purpose of the Study:
- To inventory and analyze pain-related content in a medical school's first- and second-year curriculum.
- To identify opportunities for enhancing pain education.
- To explore teaching pain as both a neuron-centered phenomenon and a social, population-based process.
Main Methods:
- A detailed content inventory and analysis of existing curricular materials.
- Involvement of both students and faculty in the deconstruction of pain-related content.
- Focus on first- and second-year medical school curriculum.
Main Results:
- Pain content was found to be fragmented within the curriculum.
- Pain was predominantly presented as a symptom rather than a disease state.
- A lack of an overarching framework for understanding pain was evident.
Conclusions:
- Medical school curricula offer opportunities for a more unified approach to pain education.
- Pain should be taught as a widespread disease state, not solely as a symptom.
- Curriculum emphasis should align with the public health burden of pain.
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