FPM Board meeting update

The faculty extends its congratulations to the following recipients of an ANZCA award:  

• Associate Professor Meredith Craigie and Associate Professor Newman Harris were both awarded the Robert Orton Medal. 
• Associate Professor Carolyn Arnold was awarded the ANZCA Medal. 

Governance

FPM Vice-Dean

The faculty is pleased to announce that Dr Leinani Aiono-Le-Tagaloa was re-elected as the FPM Vice-Dean and will commence her second term on 4 May 2025. 

Election for the FPM new fellow board member on the FPM Board 

Dr Amrita Prasad’s term as the new fellow board member concluded after the FPM Annual Business meeting on 4 May 2025. 

The faculty received three nominations for the role of FPM new fellow board member on the FPM Board and proceeded to an election between 19-31 March 2025, with 29 votes out of 83 voters received, or a 35 per cent response rate. 

The faculty is pleased to announce that Dr Jonathan Ramachenderan, a new fellow from Western Australia, was successfully elected to the FPM Board.  

Thank you to all the candidates who nominated and the new fellows who voted. The result of the ballot will be formally ratified at the FPM Annual Business Meeting to be held in Cairns, on Sunday 4 May 2025. 

Co-option to the FPM Board 

Dr Tania Morris, an FPM fellow from Queensland, was successfully co-opted to the FPM Board, guided by the board’s diversity matrix. She will commence her term as a board member from 4 May 2025.  

Strategy

FATES project: Developing flexible accreditation pathways for pain medicine training in rural settings

FPM is actively seeking expressions of interest from regional units to apply and explore what flexible accreditation options a unit may employ. Details of the options have been disseminated through our webpage and newsletters. Potential units have been approached, and several others have contacted the faculty directly.  

The pilot accreditation application and approval process will be overseen by TUAC. The project aims to deliver at least three accreditation regional visits in Australia. 

Development of Australian health practitioner pain management education standards

Data collection for the pain management education standards was completed in 2024, and drafting of the standards commenced in January. The six draft standards will undergo a Delphi process in April-May, involving the governance advisory group and a select group of stakeholders, including FPM fellows, who will provide feedback on the drafts. Following this, external stakeholder consultation will take place in June-July to finalise the standards. .

Professional affairs

Professional documents 

The FPM Board endorsed the International Consensus Guidelines for Sacroiliac Joint Complex Treatments.  

The document development groups for one new position statement has been approved for

• Minimum standards for multidisciplinary pain services

Expressions of interest are sought for: 

• Statement on spinal cord stimulation

Two new documents are currently under development:  

• Scope of clinical practice for specialist pain medicine physician
• Statement on the provision of pain medicine statement on the care to children and adolescents.

Two existing documents are scheduled for review:  

• PS10(PM), a statement on medicinal cannabis and chronic non-cancer pain
• PS12(PM), a position statement on the use of ketamine in the management of chronic non-cancer pain

Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP)

The college is on track to meet many of the requirements of the current RAP, with 79 per cent of deliverables having been achieved. The next RAP has been submitted to Reconciliation Australia for review. 

Education and training

Scholar role  

In 2025 FPM will offer trainees the option of two scholar role activities, the existing clinical case study and a new audit option, as a transition to the six options listed below for 2026. The proposal to expand the number of options to six options is to ensure all scholar role learning outcomes are mapped to an assessment. 

1. Clinical audit or quality improvement program in pain clinic
2. Undertake a literature review on Pain medicine for a proposed research project provided by ePPOC or independently
3. Presentation on pain medicine at a scientific meeting /conference
4. Demonstrate effective teaching and learning. Complete ANZCA Educators Program (AEP) or equivalent. Facilitate a series of tutorials or workshops relevant to pain medicine to increase level of knowledge or skills of colleagues, peers or students, demonstrating education related competencies (at least 2 hours in one or over multiple sessions)
5. Contribute to clinical trials and /or research projects or publication in peer reviewed journal on pain medicine or exemption in recognition of prior learning

Exemption in recognition of prior learning for enrolment in university level subjects in research or education which meet FPM scholar role activity criteria 

FPM new fellows admitted to fellowship (as of 28 April 2025)

• Dr Luxmana Jeganathan, FANZCA, FFPMANZCA (VIC)
• Dr Darragh Fitzgerald, FACEM, FFPMANZCA (WA)
• Dr Taras Hembram, FRACGP, FFPMANZCA (SA)