ANZCA Bulletin - June 2009 - Australian and New Zealand College ...

Faculty of Pain MedicineInaugural meetingof FPM PsychiatristsWhen the Faculty of Pain Medicine (ofthe Australia and New Zealand College ofAnaesthetists) was established in 1998, fourpsychiatrists were among the 30 FoundationFellows. Now with about 250 Fellows, thenumber of psychiatrists within the FPM hasrisen to 14.For the first time since the establishmentof the FPM, a meeting of the psychiatristFellows was held in Sydney on April 6,2009. Attendance of interstate colleagueswas facilitated by the coincident annualscientific meeting of the Australian PainSociety. Impressively, 11 of the 14 Australianand New Zealand FPM psychiatristsattended a dinner during which a broadrange of pertinent issues was discussed. Itwas a rare privilege to gather with such agroup, to be able to put faces to people withwhom one has liaised over the years and tomeet afresh other colleagues working in thischallenging field.Against the splendid backdrop that isDarling Harbour’s city light show, an arrayof significant issues pertaining to psychiatryand pain medicine was explored.Several priorities were identified. Theseincluded raising the profile of psychiatrywithin the Faculty of Pain Medicine, andof the Faculty of Pain Medicine within theCollege of Psychiatry (RANZCP). Thoughtwas also given to our relationships withallied groups such as addiction medicineand rehabilitation medicine.At a more specific level the groupconsidered it important that the knowledgebase regarding pain management issues beraised in medical undergraduates, generalpsychiatry trainees, specialist CL traineesand the broader fellowship of the RANZCP.Ultimately, it would be hoped that morepsychiatrists will be attracted to Fellowshipof the Faculty of Pain Medicine and avenuesfor promoting this were discussed.There was some discussion regardingthe possibility that we establish a specialinterest group (SIG) within the RANZCP’ssection on consultation/liaison psychiatry.The same consideration was also givento forming a SIG in the Faculty of PainMedicine. On a broader, global setting, thethought of establishing a SIG for psychiatrywithin the International Association (IASP)received a great deal of interest fromthe group.86The ANZCA Bulletin June 2009Several decisions were made at themeeting. First, it was agreed that the groupwould meet informally whenever therewere sufficient numbers at a conference ofinterest, but formally on an annual basis.There was some significant discussion asto whether the meeting should be attachedto any specific conference, and if so which,without a clear decision having beendetermined. It was agreed that, as the nextmeeting of the Australian Pain Society willbe conjoint with the New Zealand PainSociety, it would be an appropriate time tobring this trans-Tasman group together onceagain, a yearor so hence. The agenda for that meetingwill include the need to determine thetiming of future meetings.It was also agreed that the group wouldendeavour to coordinate a formal academicsession at each and every future congressof the RANZCP, for our own academicdevelopment and of our colleagues.A letter is to be written to the chairmanof the board of education of the RANZCPto enquire about the prominence of painmedicine within the training curricula, andto offer involvement of the group in thisregard. Members of the group indicatedtheir acceptance that ideally, each of usshould forge closer relationships with ourCL colleagues; it was noted that manyof us are employed by departments ofanaesthesia/pain management rather thandepartments of psychiatry and that thismight have facilitated some of us drifting alittle from our colleagues.At an even more practical level, muchdiscussion was held about the potential forFPM psychiatrists to become more involvedin undergraduate as well as FellowshipExaminations for both the FPM and theRANZCP. Fellows with ideas upon whichthey might develop model answers shouldcontact Frank New or George Mendelsonbefore putting too much effort into this,to ensure that they’re not re-inventingsomething that is already on file.The evening ended with a pervasivesense that this had been an importantevent, with a sense of satisfaction that aprocess had been set in train which willultimately benefit ourselves as well as ourprofessional and broader communities.Dr Newman HarrisConvenorHIV and NeuropathicPain SeminarFellows of FPM in Melbourne and membersof the Australian Pain Society, meetingas The Victorian Pain ManagementGroup, were treated to a fascinatingseminar on May 14, 2009 hosted by theBurnet Institute at the Alfred Hospital inMelbourne. The topic of discussion wasHIV and neuropathic pain, with a seminarappropriately titled “Touching a RawNerve”. Professor Andrew Rice, (FPMASM visitor, 2009) from Imperial CollegeLondon was joined by a local luminary onneuropathic pain in HIV, Dr Kate Cherry,who is head of Neuropathy and DrugToxicity (HIV) Research at the BurnetInstitute in Melbourne.Many Fellows will have heard ProfRice speak in Cairns and be aware of hisvast clinical and scientific knowledge ofneuropathic pain. In this instance hiswork on HIV neuropathy shed fascinatinginsights into this condition, which hasfeatures different to other forms ofneuropathic pain. With an estimatedincidence of 33 million HIV casesworldwide, the problem of pain is a majorconcern. Neuropathy can occur, typicallya distal sensory neuropathy, both primary,and also secondary to antiretroviraltherapies. Of great concern was theresearch showing poor response to typicalanalgesic therapies for neuropathic pain.The speakers highlighted new researchincluding epidemiological insights, publichealth approaches, research into the resultsof phenotyping to select treatment andpotential new drug developmentsfor treatment.Dr Carolyn ArnoldAustralian Healthand Medical ResearchCongressChronic pain and its treatment: frommolecular to clinicalThe Australian Health and MedicalResearch Congress (AH&MRC) is aninitiative of the Australian Society forMedical Research and this fourth congressbrought together 33 specialist societiesand groups with the key aim of fosteringcross-disciplinary collaboration andapproaches to improving human health.