What you will do:

This is an outpatient experience during which you will be under the supervision of board- certified physicians in pain management. They hold staff appointments at Houston Methodist Hospital, HCA Houston Healthcare and UTMB. They are actively involved in teaching and mentoring pain fellows from the MD Anderson Cancer Center and family medicine residents from HCA Houston Healthcare.

In their practice, they are committed to providing personalized care to patients suffering from painful conditions. Among the conditions that they routinely evaluates and treat include back pain, neck pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, headache, neuropathy, and cancer pain. Procedures that they frequently perform to help relieve pain include nerve blocks, epidural injections, nerve ablations, placement of spinal cord stimulators, and implantation of pain pumps.

Please note that some of your time will be spent with both colleagues in the practice and other providers.

This rotation will take place mainly at the physician's outpatient clinic but some time may be spent in a surgical center. On the first day, you will be introduced to how the clinic operates, its processes, and patient flow. 

During your experience, you will learn the following U.S. medical practices under the preceptor’s supervision:

• Taking histories of new and established patients.

• May have opportunities to examine patients under physician supervision.

• Presenting patients.

• Have opportunities to research the literature to answer clinical questions at the point of care.

• Observing state-of-the-art procedures in pain management.

• Spending time with other healthcare professionals to understand their roles and responsibilities.