FPM Board Call for Nominations
The call for nominations for two vacancies on the FPM Board are currently underway. If more than two nominations are received, the faculty will proceed to an election in January 2024.
MBS taskforce review
FPM continues to work with the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) leadership team and has submitted feedback to recommendations 26 and 27.
ANZCA/FPM Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP)
The Board discussed the development of a proposal for a new cultural safety standard to be included in the Accreditation Handbook, with a proposal developed for consideration by the Indigenous Health Committee.
Walk my pain
Key Australian pain sector leaders demonstrated solidarity on the lawns of Parliament House on 13 September 2023. This was a Painaustralia-led event, and while all pain sector organisations did not necessarily agree with the policy platform put forward by Painaustralia, we saw this as an opportunity to shine a light on the issue of pain in our community.
There were a range of political speakers from all sides of government as well as two consumers who spoke about their lived experience. The event had good media coverage.
Multidisciplinary chronic pain management showcase
The faculty were also invited to join the Parliamentary Friends of Pain co-chairs, Wendy Askew and Helen Polley, as part of a "multidisciplinary chronic pain management showcase" inside Parliament House in the afternoon following the ‘Walk My Pain’ event.
The primary objective of the showcase was to raise the profile of pain. FPM discussed key issues with politicians and senior bureaucrats including:
- Advocating for broader access to allied health services in primary care settings.
- The need for more pain specialist-led, multidisciplinary pain services.
- The importance of pain training and education for healthcare professionals to improve health outcomes in the community.
National Strategy for Health Practitioner Pain Management Education
On Friday 6 October, at the opening of the 2023 Spring Meeting, the Dean launched the National Strategy. The faculty acknowledges the tremendous work of the project team led by Associate Professor Meredith Craigie as well as the extensive input by multidisciplinary colleges from across the pain sector.
The document has now been published on the federal government’s website.
Pain Device Implant Registry (PDIR)
The FPM will continue to work with the Neuromodulation Society of Australia and New Zealand to develop an implant registry.
Paediatric Pain Medicine
The Dean has written to FPM fellows in paediatric pain units within Australia and New Zealand, seeking their opinion as to whether the faculty should formalise training for paediatric pain units and develop better professional standards.
Commemoration of the faculty’s 25-year milestone
The 2023 FPM Spring Meeting was held at the Pullman Hotel in Adelaide, and was well attended. The 25-year anniversary of the Faculty of Pain Medicine was celebrated at the Penfolds Magill Estate on Saturday 7 October.
2024 Spring meeting
Dr Wei Chung Tong has been approved as the convenor for the 2024 Spring Meeting which will be held in Auckland, New Zealand.
Procedures Endorsement Program (PEP)
A strategic ‘re-set’ workshop is planned for early November to discuss ways of growing participating in the program.
Opioid stewardship resource toolkit
An opioid resource toolkit is currently being developed through the faculty and will be launched at the Australian Pain Society conference in 2024. The clinical lead for this project is Dr Jennifer Stevens and the final product will be available on the college website following its launch next year.
Fellowship exam
The FPM oral exam is scheduled for 11 November 2023.
Australian Pain Solutions Research Alliance
The Australian Pain Solutions Research Alliance recently held elections for its inaugural Board. Associate Professor Michael Vagg was successfully elected. The Alliance will be registered as a company limited by guarantee in December. This will complete the faculty’s stewardship of this importance initiative.
APSME Lead Editor
Dr Gavin Pattulo has been appointed as the new Lead Editor for the APSME and as part of his role he will also be joining the FPM Research Committee.
FPM Research Network Working Group
Research priority-setting
An on-line workshop to identify research priorities was conducted on 10th August. The workshop included a presentation by Professor Phil Peyton on the ROCKET study, followed by group discussion of workshop. The key priorities for pain research focused on high impact research which included translational research, improving health outcomes and addressing areas of high need within our community. The outcome of this workshop provided a starting point for further development which will include wider consultation.
Spring meeting Friday workshops
Two successful 90-minutes interactive workshops were conducted on the Friday morning preceding the Spring Meeting. The first was an introductory-level workshop is to assist those who have a research idea but don’t know where to begin. The second workshop, facilitated by Dr Mark Hutchinson, was aimed at early to mid-career researchers to provide a platform to pitch and communicate their research proposal or protocol and receive constructive feedback.
The Friday morning Research Network workshops will become a regular feature of the Spring Meetings going forward.
Research webinars
In collaboration with the ANZCA library a series of webinars are planned over the next 6 – 8 months to educate and provide information on how to navigate through stages of research activities. The first webinar will be on how to write a research abstract for conferences is planned for early December.
Graduate Outcome Statements
One of the Australian Medical Council reaccreditation conditions was to develop and implement a publicly available program and graduate outcomes for the anaesthesia and pain medicine program that align with the health needs of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia and Māori people of New Zealand.
The graduate outcomes articulate outcomes for anaesthetists and pain medicine specialists, including between generalist and sub speciality training. These outcomes will have constructive alignment to curricula and assessment.
The draft graduate outcome statements will be circulated to for broader consultation in early 2024.
FPM By-laws
The FPM Board has approved changes to By-law 4 ‘FPM Training Program’ to improve processes, with key changes relating to:
- An adjustment of time terminology around a year of training from ‘44 weeks excluding normal leave’ to ‘52 weeks inclusive of normal leave’
- changes to supervision arrangements in the PDS resulting from changes to the accreditation process
- update to processes and terminology to reflect that the Training ePortfolio has been introduced.
- Additional requirement that the last ITA in the CTS must be satisfactory to progress to the PDS.
Revised 2024 FPM Board Meeting Dates
The FPM New Board meeting has been uncoupled from the Annual Scientific Meeting, and the October Board meeting uncoupled from the FPM Spring Meeting.
Sunday 18 February (F2F, Melbourne)
Sunday 14 April (Zoom)
Sunday 5 May (Annual Business Meeting, Brisbane)
Thursday 16 May (New Board meeting, Zoom)
Sunday 21 July (F2F, Melbourne)
Sunday 15 September (Zoom)
Sunday 10 November (F2F, Melbourne)
The faculty recognises the passing of Dr Daryl Mackinnon Salmon (NSW) FANZCA 1992, FFPMANZCA 1999.