Dear Colleagues:
After a brief hiatus I would like to announce that we are back and the next meeting of Pain Connections will be September 4th (Pain Awareness Month). As in the past the meeting will be held at Napolitano’s Italian Restaurant. After a very enlightening discussion on the topic of meditation back in March I look forward to seeing everyone back again for what promises to be another interesting discussion and an opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues!!
As in the past the goal of our meeting continues to center around sharing of experiences and knowledge about the topic of pain management. We will continue to count on your participation that has produced outstanding discussions on a wide range of topics. As always a secondary goal of Pain Connections is to interact with colleagues from the University and local community in an effort to learn about the many resources and areas of expertise that exist within the Gainesville area.
At the September meeting the topic will be “Crossroads of Pain and Addiction”. The speaker will be Dr. John Bailey who is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Florida where he provides clinical care and resident teaching in the area of chronic pain and addiction medicine. Dr. Bailey has authored papers on pain management and addiction medicine and serves on the American Society of Anesthesiology Task Force for Chemical Dependence and the Governors’ Task force for drug related deaths. In his talk he will addressthe prevalence of chronic pain in patients being treated for addictive disorders; the prevalence of addiction in patients being treated for chronic pain; the importance of treating chronic pain in patients with coexisting pain and addiction; the risk factors and “red flags” that suggest a pain patient may be suffering from addiction or possibly diverting controlled medications; why some medications are more reinforcing than others; and appropriate medication choices for pain patients with a coexisting addictive disorder.
The September meeting will be held at Napolitano’s Italian Restaurant (606 N.W. 75th. St., Gainesville, Tower Road). From 6:30-7:00 pm will be time to socialize with friends and colleagues and from 7:00-8:30pm we will enjoy dinner and the presentation. Please send RSVP’s to Linda Tanner (ltanner@dental.ufl.edu) and mark your calendar for Thursday September 4th, 2014.
Pain Connections is sponsored by support from the UF Center for Pain Research and Medtronic.
Please circulate this announcement to colleagues who might be interested.
Sincerely yours,
Robert P. Yezierski, Ph.D.
Professor and Program Director