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The Multidisciplinary Pain Medicine Community

AAPM serves physicians and other professionals whose work involves the prevention, evaluation, treatment, rehabilitation, research, or management of pain.

The Academy's community includes professionals working across areas such as anesthesiology, Pain Medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, neurosurgery, emergency and acute pain care, internal and family medicine, psychiatry, psychology, palliative and cancer care, pharmacy, advanced practice, research, rehabilitation, and other disciplines involved in pain care.

Members practice in academic medical centers, hospitals and health systems, private practices, federal health care, research institutions, and other clinical and professional settings.

What connects them is not a single specialty of origin. It is a shared commitment to improving the understanding and treatment of pain.

Pain Medicine and the Patients We Serve

Pain Medicine is the medical discipline concerned with the study and prevention of pain and the evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation of people experiencing pain.

Pain may be acute or chronic. It may occur after injury or surgery, accompany cancer or another medical condition, or become a complex condition requiring long-term management.

Because pain can involve biological, psychological, functional, and social factors, effective care often requires more than one approach. Pain professionals may evaluate complex conditions, prescribe medications, perform procedures, coordinate multidisciplinary treatment, provide behavioral or rehabilitative care, conduct research, and work with other clinicians to develop individualized treatment plans.

AAPM supports the professionals doing that work by advancing the knowledge, collaboration, and clinical leadership needed to improve pain care.

Learn More About Pain Medicine

Our History

The American Academy of Pain Medicine was founded in 1983 as the American Academy of Algology. As the understanding and treatment of pain evolved, so did the Academy and the field it represents.

Over the decades, AAPM has helped create a national professional community around Pain Medicine, bringing together physicians and other experts committed to advancing education, scholarship, clinical practice, and advocacy.

Today, the Academy continues that work while looking ahead to the scientific, clinical, technological, and policy developments that will shape the next era of pain care.

Leadership and Governance

AAPM is governed by a Board of Directors composed of Academy members who volunteer their expertise and leadership in support of the organization's mission.

The Academy's work is strengthened by committees, task forces, Shared Interest Groups, faculty, authors, reviewers, volunteers, and professional staff who contribute their time and knowledge to the pain medicine community.

Meet the AAPM Leadership

Mett AAPM's Leadership

Meet the AAPM Staff

Meet AAPM's Staff

Be Part of the AAPM Community

The future of Pain Medicine will be shaped by the people willing to learn, collaborate, question, contribute, and lead.

AAPM gives physicians and other pain professionals a place to do that work together.

Join AAPM