Graduate Certificate (Gr. Cert.) Chronic Pain Management

About this programme

Chronic pain management is a major and growing challenge for patients, healthcare professionals, and the global healthcare system. In order to improve health services for people with chronic pain, evidence-based clinical practice delivered by knowledgeable health care professionals at all levels is necessary. In this program, the learner will acquire a theoretical knowledge base in the most recent evidence-based neuroscientific and behavioural perspectives of chronic pain, develop advanced practice skills in the evaluation and assessment of chronic pain conditions and learn how to manage common clinical chronic pain conditions with an interdisciplinary perspective and using the biopsychosocial approach. This certificate is an ongoing collaboration between the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy and the Alan Edwards Center for Research in Pain to consistently provide health care professionals with the latest and most relevant approaches, skills, and technologies in the care and management of chronic pain from basic science to human care. This certificate program is offered in both French and English. Who should apply? This online program is appropriate for professionals from medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacology, physical therapy, psychology and related disciplines. The post-professional program was designed for busy healthcare professionals, providing the freedom to manage their work-life balance. View student demographics and testimonials to learn more. Courses (15 credits) The certificate program consists of five courses, each providing 3 credits. The content has been carefully designed to align with five major themes of chronic pain management: the multidimensional nature of chronic pain, assessment, intervention, conditions, and interdisciplinarity. Each of these themes is a pillar to support the learners’ evolving expertise in the management of chronic pain towards improved patient/client care. The program content addresses these themes individually or in parallel. This certificate in chronic pain management aligns with the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) Interprofessional Pain Curriculum Outline. The online educators and interdisciplinary learners interact via online forum discussions, video assignments, and other platforms. These all provide the opportunity to compare experiences and problem solve real clinical problems in addition to interacting with the learning material. The final, elective course, provides the opportunity to build upon and complement the previous course content in a personalized way by pursuing a topic area of interest. Courses are offered in French and in English, view the list below for details of each course. POTH663-Pain Assessment in Clinical Practice This course will assist learners in developing approaches to the global assessment of patients with pain (acute and chronic) and to guide diagnostic, care and treatment. This will include conventional health assessment techniques (interview and physical examination), pain measurement tools, psychological assessment, specific techniques (e.g. examination of lumbar spine, functional assessments), and the role and value of diagnostic studies. Lecturers: Lesley Norris, MSc, PT; Maria Dritsa, PhD Psychology; Celine Gélinas, RN, PhD; Sara Saunders, PhD, OT; Dr. Mark Ware, MD, MRCP (UK) POTH664-Neuroscience and Behavioral Perspectives of Pain This course is designed to review the basic neuroscience of pain and the interrelationship between psychological, physiological and environmental processes in pain perception. Neuro-anatomical, physiological, pharmacological, and biochemical mechanisms involved in nociception are presented. The contributions of psychological factors such as mood and cognition, as well as environmental factors are examined as contributors to the pain experience. Conceptual paradigms are introduced that allow integration of the biomedical and psychosocial factors to understand the pain ex