How to advance your career in pain management

1. Complete a health or medical degree or have prior professional experience in health

All health professionals will have begun to learn about pain management in their professional preparation programs. This can be a medical degree or a bachelor’s degree in a health-related discipline, such as nursing, physiotherapy or psychology from the University of Sydney or equivalent qualification.

However, this is just the start of the journey in developing knowledge and skills of this specialty field.

If you don’t have either of these degrees, but still want to learn more about acute and chronic pain you may also be eligible to undertake study in pain management.

You’ll need to have a minimum of five years’ professional work experience in a health-related field or pass a preliminary examination(s) as prescribed by the Faculty of Medicine and Health.

2. Gain a postgraduate degree in Pain Management

Our postgraduate coursework program offers advanced, evidence-based and clinically-relevant education in pain management.

For medical graduates, it is a seminal step in preparation for specialist training in Anaesthetics, Pain Medicine, Critical Care, General Practice, Rheumatology, Psychiatry and other medical fields managing patients in pain.

For all health-related discipline graduates, it is an ideal career pathway towards becoming an expert in pain and/or a leader in your professional field.

Developed and taught by the University of Sydney School of Medicine's Pain Education Unit, based at Royal North Shore Hospital and the Pain Management Research Institute at the Kolling Institute of Medical Research, we offer a premier international program in pain management.

There are postgraduate options in Pain Management for those who have either a medical degree or a degree from a health discipline. These include:

• Graduate Certificate in Pain Management (for medical and health graduates)
• Graduate Diploma in Pain Management (for medical and health graduates)
• Master of Science in Medicine (Pain Management) (for medical and health graduates)
• Master of Medicine (Pain Management) (for medical graduates only)

Our pain management programs are designed to provide you with the tools and techniques necessary to successfully manage acute, sub-acute and chronic pain. They also will empower you to collaborate efficiently within a multidisciplinary team to successfully pursue this objective.

Additionally, you’ll have the benefit of gaining a qualification from a top 20 university globally (QS World University Rankings 2024) that is also 2nd in Australia and 26th globally for medicine (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024).

At the Masters level of the program there are two main enrolment options. You can either enrol in the general pathway which offers a range of electives to choose from, or you can enrol in one of two specific pathways – Orofacial Pain or Physical Therapies.

The Orofacial Pain pathway is targeted towards dentists and other health professionals working in this specialty area.

Whereas, the Physical Therapies pathway is targeted at allied health professionals working in the physical or rehabilitation domain, such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, exercise physiologists, chiropractors and osteopaths.

Added to this, our Master of Science in Medicine (Pain Management) degree is the only recognised academic pathway to becoming a titled Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) Pain Physiotherapist.

3. Study flexibly

Each of our Pain Management courses are offered through our interactive online learning environment, giving you the flexibility to tailor your study schedule around your lifestyle.

If you would like to engage in in-person training, you also have the option to attend the PainRefresh course held in February each year at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney.

Our learning and teaching environment is fuelled by passionate local and international academic clinicians and researchers all widely experienced in pain management practice.

Added to this, you’ll be part of a diverse student group where you’ll learn with, from and about other health professionals managing pain patients.

4. Gain professional accreditation

Our degree programs have been endorsed by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). This is the leading international scientific body representing and supporting about 7,000 pain scientists and clinicians around the world.

Added to this, all four of our Pain Management coursework degrees would qualify as evidence of legitimate educational activities as part of the continuing professional development requirements for health professionals.

5. Build your career

Students who have completed these courses have diverse career options in the field of pain management across various medical, nursing, allied health settings and specialities, and in academic research. Examples include:

• Medical and dental practitioners working with people in pain
• Physiotherapists and occupational therapists focusing on rehabilitation for patients with chronic pain
• Interventional pain specialists performing procedures to manage pain
• Pain management nurse practitioners working in an acute hospital setting
• Psychologists working with people experiencing chronic pain and comorbid conditions such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression

Alternatively, for graduates with a medical background, the Masters program provides a solid foundation for specialist training programs in pain medicine, anaesthesiology, and rehabilitation medicine.

There’s also a possible research pathway whereby graduates may pursue careers in academia by contributing to the development of new treatments and therapies for pain management.