The Association of Pain Program Directors, an independent 501c non-profit organization, is committed to promoting pain medicine education and career development for pain specialists and trainees. As pain medicine has developed as a multidisciplinary specialty, fellowship training is more important than ever and the curriculum has become more rigorous and complex. The number of ACGME-accredited pain medicine training programs in the U.S. has increased to over 90. APPD will continue to play a pivotal role in transforming pain medicine to meet the growing needs of patients in pain.
APPD leadership has created and maintained an updated contact list of all Pain Program Directors and Education Coordinators to streamline communication over the past several years. We have also maintained professional affiliations with the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) and the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM). We initiated the first “Pain Medicine fellowship match” in 2013 and the first application process through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS®) in 2014. Our website went “live” in 2015, to provide resources for Program Directors to further develop and improve their training programs. Peer reviewed educational content and pain medicine “milestones” for fellows will be posted in the months to come and will be regularly updated to ensure relevance. In addition, we will maintain an open forum for pain educators to discuss and share ideas and to facilitate social gatherings of Program Directors, pain fellows and pain fellowship candidates at ASRA and AAPM.