Table 2.

Minimum Clinical Experience in the Core Disciplines Related to Pain Medicine Required by 2007 ACGME Program Requirements for Fellowship Training in Pain Medicine (ACGME, 2007)

Anesthesiology: The trainee must demonstrate competency in basic life support and advanced cardiac life support and must have minimum experience in the following anesthesiologic techniques:

• intravenous access—15 patients
• mask ventilation—15 patients
• endotracheal intubation—15 patients
• sedation—15 patients
• thoracic or lumbar interlaminar epidural injections—15 patients.

Neurology: The trainee must elicit a directed neurological history and neurological examination in 15 patients and demonstrate proficiency in five observed patient examinations. The trainee must read a minimum of 15 CT and/or MRI studies of the brain and cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine.

PM&R: The trainee must gain experience in the musculoskeletal and neuromuscular assessments in 15 patients and demonstrate proficiency in a minimum of 5 patients.

Psychiatry: The trainee must carry out a complete psychiatric history and conduct a complete mental status examination on a minimum of 15 patients and demonstrate this ability in a minimum of five patients to a faculty observer (the faculty may be a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist).