Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to announce the 1st International Course on Pain Medicine (ICPM), which will take place on 28-31 May, 2009 in Granada, Spain.  The Course, the first of its kind, aims to provide an overview of the main chronic pain entities, from their pathophysiological mechanisms to the diagnosis and most advanced treatment options available. Hence, it is particularly dedicated to those physicians willing to increase or update their clinical knowledge on pain management.

Pain is one of the main reasons leading patients to seek medical help from their family doctors/general practitioners or other healthcare physicians. Although, in many cases, pain represents the symptom of an underlying disease, if that disease cannot be diagnosed and/or cured pain becomes chronic and constitutes the major (often the sole) problem of the patient, with a profound impact on his/her quality of life and of the immediate circle of family and friends. In this context, pain becomes a disease in its own right, encompassing multiple and often complex biological, psychological and social factors that must be addressed for the correct and efficient management of pain. Unfortunately, most undergraduate medical courses do not provide sufficient information on pain, and postgraduate education in pain is scarce and fragmented. Therefore, clinicians are often unsure of the diagnosis or the best therapeutic strategies for the management of their patients’ pain. The ICPM aims at contributing to fill that gap.

The objectives, target audience and structure of the ICPM make it unique in the scene of international pain congresses, which are mainly dedicated to the presentation and discussion of basic and clinical studies by pain specialists. On the contrary, the ICPM aspires at providing education on the pain entities that most physicians face in their daily practice. Each session will be dedicated to a topic and will include a comprehensive lecture by a pain specialist, complemented by clinical cases, provided and presented by attending participants, to illustrate the type of challenges posed by “real” patients. Ample time will be allocated for interaction with the audience, enhanced by a multimedia multiple-choice quiz on the topic of the session. It should be stressed out that lecturers have been chosen not only according to their expertise in pain management but also taking into account their experience in post-graduate teaching. Practical workshops on the evaluation of pain patients will be an important additional feature of the ICPM. These workshops will have a limited number of participants to provide better interaction.

Importantly, while the course is dedicated to an international audience, given its geographical location we have obtained the endorsement of the Spanish Pain Society (SED), the Portuguese Association for the Study of Pain (APED), both of which are chapters of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), the Italian Academy of family physicians (IAMEF), the Pain Management Group of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), the Spanish Society of General and Family Doctors (SEMG) and the Portuguese Association of General Practitioners (APMCG). Pending, are the auspices of other national and international scientific societies. Moreover, despite the fact that the official language of the course is English, there will be simultaneous translation of the lectures to Spanish.
 
We hope that you can join us in Granada for this unique Course, for the interactive networking amongst colleagues and to enjoy the splendid city of Granada, famous for its architecture amongst which lies the Alhambra, a citadel and palace and one of the most famous items of the Muslim, Jewish and Christian historical legacy that makes Granada a hot spot among cultural and tourist cities in Spain.

See you in Granada…!

José Castro-Lopes
Scientific Chairman

José Manuel Castro-Lopes, M.D., Ph.D., is a full professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Portugal. He has worked on the neurobiology of chronic pain in Porto, Munich, London and Paris, and was/is responsible for several research projects funded by national or European institutions. He has published more than 40 original scientific papers in international peer-reviewed journals, 3 books and a few book chapters and review articles. Lately, Prof. Castro-Lopes was the coordinator of a large nationwide epidemiological study on the prevalence and individual, social and economic impact of chronic pain in Portugal. Very recently, he has also obtained funding from the National Foundation for Science and Technology, as principal investigator of a study on the prevalence of acute post-operative pain. Prof. Castro Lopes created the Postgraduate Course on Pain Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto and has been involved in several international educational activities in the pain field. He was/is a member of the Scientific Programme Committee of several international congresses, including Pain in Europe IV - 4th Congress of the European Federation of IASP Chapters (EFIC; Prague, 2006), Pain in Europe V - 5th Congress of EFIC (Istanbul, 2006), the 13th World Congress on Pain of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP; Montreal, 2010), the 3rd International Congress on Neuropathic Pain (Athens 2010). Recently, he was the chairman of the Scientific Programme committee of the 12th World Congress on Pain of IASP (Glasgow, 2008) and he was appointed Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee of Pain in Europe VI – 6th Congress of EFIC (Lisbon, 2009). Moreover, Prof. Castro-Lopes was elected Honorary Treasurer of EFIC (2002-2005), is currently the Coordinator of the National Programme for Pain Control at the Portuguese Ministry of Health, President of the Board of the National Observatory for Pain (OBSERVDOR) and councillor of the International Association for the Study of Pain.