About the Faculty of Pain Medicine

The Faculty of Pain Medicine (FPM) of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) is the professional organisation for specialist pain medicine physicians (Fellows) and trainees. FPM is responsible for the training, program and for the standards of clinical practice for pain medicine in Australia and New Zealand. Formed in 1998, FPM was the first multidisciplinary medical academy in the world to be devoted to education and training in pain medicine.

FPM was formed in 1998 as a joint venture involving ANZCA, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine. Since the first Fellowship examination in 1999 to December 2016, 440 Fellows have been admitted from the following primary specialties: anaesthesia 66 per cent, rehabilitation 12 per cent, other physicians six per cent, psychiatry four per cent, surgery four per cent, and general practice two per cent. Pain medicine was recognized as a medical specialty in Australia in 2005 and in New Zealand in 2012.

Visit the ANZCA website.

About Better Pain Management

Education of primary health care professionals remains one of the greatest challenges in delivering accessible, high quality medical treatment to people suffering chronic pain. The sheer number of patient affected, up to 20 per cent of the population in Australia and 21% of adults in New Zealand, dictates that the overwhelming majority of health care for patients with chronic pain must come from primary care providers.

The Better Pain Management program has been developed primarily by specialist pain medicine physicians and other experts in the field of pain management to better equip health professionals to deliver effective pain management to patients with acute and chronic pain.

The twelve, 1 hour, modules are accessible individually or in a range of packages.

Continuing professional development

Due to the varying continuing professional development (CPD) programs of specialist colleges, nursing and allied health groups, no standard CPD value has been assigned to the modules. Participants should seek advice from their professional organisation. Completion of this activity may be cited as evidence of satisfying CPD requirements for AHPRA registered practitioners.

Development of Better Pain Management

Our aim is to present unbiased, prioritized, educational messages as interestingly, engagingly and as accessibly as possible while emphasizing core themes in pain medicine to capture the attention of the professionals engaged in the care of patients with persistent pain.

The modules have been developed with clearly defined learning objectives and have used illustrations and animations to make them engaging. They are case study based, interactive, and include questionnaires to ensure effective comprehension and completion of each unit.

The program has been developed by FPM Fellows and other experts in specific areas relevant to pain management and has been contributed to, supported or endorsed by the following partnering organisations:

We gratefully acknowledge the generous project support of the following organisations: