A Primer on Pain for the Practicing Physical Therapist

Pain is a common complaint and one of the most frequent reasons people seek healthcare. The person training to be a clinician or the practicing clinician can grow frustrated with management of pain because traditional instruction falls short on providing an adequate understanding of pain. The overall goal of this primer is to supplement traditional instruction by providing content that allows the individual that completes this primer to gain a “transformed understanding” of pain consistent with Institute of Medicine guidelines. Primer content will emphasize examples in musculoskeletal pain from selected studies reported in the peer-review literature. Musculoskeletal pain was selected as the core of this primer because of its overall prevalence and high societal impact.

Meet your Instructor

Steven Z. George, PT, PhD, is director of musculoskeletal research (Duke Clinical Research Institute) and vice chair of clinical research (Orthopaedic Surgery) at Duke University. He is an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association, American Pain Society, and International Association for the Study of Pain. He is past program director at the University of Florida, having taught the evidence-based practice sequence for 10 years. His speaking experiences include symposia, educational, and keynote presentations at national and international conferences. In 2016 he was the 21st John H.P. Maley Lecturer, and the title of his lecture was “Pain Management: Road Map to Revolution.”