Physicians’ Attitudes to Clinical Pain Management and Education: Survey from a Middle Eastern Country

Table 5

Pain education in Lebanese medical schools curricula.

Questions	Medical school 1	Medical school 2	Medical school 3	Medical school 4	Medical school 5
Do you teach medical students pain assessment and management in your didactic curriculum?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
During which academic year(s) do you deliver your didactic curriculum on pain assessment and management?	Medical years 1 and 2	Medical year 2	Medical years 1, 2, and 3	Medical year 2	Medical year 3
What types of pain are covered in the didactic curriculum?	Acute, chronic, postoperative, and/or cancer pain	Acute, chronic, postoperative, functional, and/or complex (cancer/AIDS pain)	Acute, chronic, postoperative, palliative, and cancer pain	No answer	All types of pain
Do you have a separate course dedicated to teaching your medical students on pain assessment and management?	No, it is taught within various courses	No answer	No, it is taught within various courses	No, it is taught within various courses	No, it is taught within various courses
Do you teach medical students on pain assessment and management in simulation settings?	Yes	No	No	No	No
Do you teach medical students on pain assessment and management in your experiential curriculum?	No	Yes	No	No	No
Do you have a separate rotation dedicated to pain assessment and management?	No	Yes	No	No	No
Kindly share student learning objectives that must be met on pain assessment and management in your curriculum	(i) Briefly review the mechanisms underlying pain sensation and describe clinical assessment of pain; (ii) Discuss selection of pain medications based on pain severity and type; (iii) Describe various modalities used to prevent and treat pain in different patient situations such as postoperative pain and cancer pain; (iv) Discuss the indications and side effects of patient-controlled analgesia; (v) Discuss the aims of pain management programs according to international guidelines; (vi) Discuss alternative interventions for pain management	(i) What is pain?; (ii) How is pain recognized?; (iii) What are the neural substrates of pain?; (iv) How does context influence pain?; (v) How is pain relieved?	(i) Physiology (mechanism, different types); (ii) Surgery (traumatology, acute pain); (iii) Oncology (palliative care, cancer pain); (iv) Anesthesia (pain control and management)	No answer	(i) Be aware of the different type of pain; (ii) Know the different scores to evaluate pain in adults, pediatric population, and elderly patients; (iii) Medical management (classes of analgesics); (iv) Nonmedical treatment; (v) Surgical techniques in selected patients
Does your affiliated hospital offer medical residents the option of a residency program in pain management?	No	No	Yes	No	No