Pain: A guide for clinicians

In this first module you will learn basic taxonomy and be introduced to the neuroscience-based approach to understanding pain and pain science. Furthermore, you will be introduced to the ICD-11 definition of chronic pain.

This module takes you through a science-based explanation of how and why the patients’ perspectives, beliefs, expectations etc. influences the clinical outcomes and what it means to embrace the patient-as-expert. In this module, you will also learn about what non-specific effects are and how they relate to placebo- and nocebo-effects.

This module is a crash-course in the current trends within pain science. You will learn about the current understanding of low back pain as well as pain syndromes, about pain across the life span and about co-morbidities to chronic pain.

In this module I walk you through some of the key ideas in the communication with the patient about pain. The emphasis is on creating a personalised narrative for the patient, which can guide her/him to better self-management but also serve as a valuable tool for the patient, when explaining pain in everyday life. Furthermore, this module will give you some of the metaphors that I use in my clinical work as well as the context in which I use them.

In this module, you will learn more about how to utilise the information you have gathered from the patient during the interview into creating a personalised management plan. You will also be introduced to the current science related to exercise and pain as well as to specific ideas for empowering your patient.