UCSF Medical Center - Pain Management Center

How does this program differ from the live CME/CE conferences or other programs?

The program is not CME/CE. It is a postgraduate level program that is far more intensive than the typical live CME/CE conference. Our students spend an average of 8-10 hours per week* of their time working on reading materials and other assignments and participating in online discussion groups over 3 consecutive academic quarters (or roughly 340 hours total online vs. the 12-20 hours spent in the average 2-3 day CME/CE program).

We are delivering the program in this format precisely because many healthcare providers do not have the time or ability to leave busy practices to attend a live, on-site learning experience, but can benefit from participating in an intensive one-year online certificate program. Although not a pathway to specialist qualification, content for the UCSF Postgraduate Certificate in Pain Management-Online Program has been designed to enable participants to develop a solid foundation in the diagnosis and management of acute and chronic pain and to improve patient care via a convenient online format free of the constraints and distance that are inherent in most live programs. The curriculum is based on the International Association for the Study of Pain’s Core Curriculum for Professional Education in Pain, and has been created by several of the most respected and well known professionals in pain management worldwide.

* Many students devote 10-15 hours per week.

Is this a certification program?

No. Upon completion of this rigorous program, students receive the “Certificate of Completion of the Graduate Curriculum in Pain Management” from the University of California. The program is more intensive than many current certification programs and is designed to be a multidisciplinary program for the full range of healthcare providers (physicians, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, physical therapists, physician assistants, dentists, et. al.) who assess and treat patients with pain.

Are there scholarships available?

Currently, we are not in a position to offer scholarships each year. When funds are available, they are limited. Therefore, we try to stretch this funding to provide at least some partial support for students in the most rural and economically disadvantaged areas of the world. We are able to help students ease their financial burden by working with the UCSF Office of the Registrar to enable students to pay their tuition by credit card in installments, and are also continuing to explore ways to develop a more robust scholarship program for the future.

Many of our students have also been able to work with their employers to secure partial or full tuition support. In a significant number of cases, the employers have handled tuition payments directly with the UCSF Office of the Registrar; in other instances, students have been reimbursed by their employers upon successful completion of each unit/academic quarter. (A number of our students have worked successfully with their employers to expand their hospital/university reimbursement policies to cover the tuition for this innovative UCSF program because it is the only program of its kind in the nation. Many have been able to obtain reimbursement from their employers through funds previously dedicated only to CME/CE reimbursement.)

Prospective students may also wish to try searching FastWeb, the free online scholarship search engine.