Multidisciplinary Pain Medicine fellowships are accredited by the American Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and are the only way to become board certified in Pain Medicine by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). A Pain Medicine fellowship may be sponsored by any of the four core disciplines in pain medicine: Anesthesiology, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Neurology, or Psychiatry. Physicians who graduate from an accredited fellowship are trained in the multidisciplinary and multi-modal management of acute and chronic pain. This includes interventional, pharmacologic, physical, psychological and complementary therapies.
In addition to the original four disciplines (anesthesiology, physical medicine & rehabilitation, neurology, psychiatry) there are several disciplines whose primary board is co-sponsoring a board certification in pain medicine. These include Radiology, Emergency Medicine, and Family Medicine.
Most accredited pain fellowships accept applications through the ERAS application portal. This application cycle opens December 1st each year. The ERAS application cycle closes May 31st, although individual fellowships may have an earlier cutoff date for accepting applications. You should check the fellowship’s website for additional information on application requirements as some have supplementary materials in addition to the ERAS application.
Most accredited pain fellowships are part of the NRMP Matching Service. The Pain Fellowship Match takes place in early October each year. The APPD is the sponsoring organization for the NRMP’s Pain Medicine fellowship match.
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