What do specialist pain medicine physicians do?

As pain medicine is a multi-disciplinary specialty, specialist pain medicine physicians come from a variety of backgrounds.

All specialist pain medicine physicians have a primary specialty - this could be anaesthetics, psychiatry, surgery, rehabilitation medicine or general practice, among others.

Specialist pain medicine physicians can consult other doctors, or be the primary consulting doctor. They use a combination of sociological (behavioural), psychological and biomedical strategies to help restore balance for people living with pain. To do this, they provide a wide range of care, including counselling patients and their families, coordinating rehabilitation and offering evidence-based advice and practice for medication and procedural interventions. 

You might find specialist pain medicine physicians working at multidisciplinary pain clinics or centres, many of which have been established in Australia and New Zealand. These clinics or centres use the expertise of a range of medical and allied health professionals to assess the multidimensional aspects of pain and formulate appropriate programs of treatment.