An Open Letter to the Physical Rehabilitation Community From the IVAPM

[Guest guest]

Greetings to All,

I am writing on behalf of the International Veterinary Academy of

Pain Management (IVAPM) as their current President.

The IVAPM is an interdisciplinary veterinary organization dedicated

to improving the identification, prevention, and relief of pain in

animals. The IVAPM is an inclusive organization seeking members from

all professionals involved in the delivery of pain management related

care. Most specifically, I am seeking your support as members of the

physical rehabilitation community.

Perhaps it would help to give you some background information about

my views on patient pain management. I became pain aware after

attending an eye opening multiday conference on advanced anesthesia

and pain management at Michigan State University in 1991. Our initial

practice development was entirely Western medication based care and

it served us well as a foundation for our program. By the end of the

1990s we had assembled a capable program that included excellent

support staff at its core with an extensive inventory of medications

and equipment. But I knew we were not yet a complete service.

I can bring in my personal experiences as a patient with chronic

lower back pain as another major influence. As my own treatment

unfolded it was clear that medications and surgery were not my best

answers; physical therapy became my lifeline to a reasonable quality

of life and function.

There were two main factors that lead me to a commitment to physical

rehabilitation therapy (PRT) within my own practice. One was my 2005

major LBP exacerbation and treatment. The other was my extensive

studies of the human pain management structure while preparing to sit

the American Academy of Pain Management examination. I became acutely

aware of just how critical PT is to human pain management and just

how important it was for me to add PRT to my practice.

My head technician began the University of Tennessee program late in

2005, finishing the series in 2006, earning her CCRP title. She had

very high praise for her training program and was very enthusiastic

about how she saw her new skills impacting our patients. I spent 2006

completing the small animal acupuncture program through the Chi

Institute (a wonderful experience). In 2007 I completed the small

animal CCRT training program through the Canine Rehabilitation

Institute (another wonderful experience). We have been ecstatic about

the impact that PRT has had on our case management.

I need your help spreading the word. We need to work together to

increase the awareness and availability of PRT to the veterinary

patient population.

The IVAPM was founded in 2003. The majority of our current members

understandably have a Western medication orientation. I invite you to

lend your voice and your support to this organization. We need you to

help educate and support IVAPM members that are not yet fully aware

of the critical role that physical rehabilitation therapy can play in

acute and chronic pain management. You can help shape the future of

veterinary pain management as we shift our member focus from

multimodal medication based therapy to the concept of

multidisciplinary pain management teams where the strengths of one

discipline are synergized by the strengths of the others.

I see a much brighter future unfolding for our patients: a future of

hope. At our practice we have witnessed so many successfully managed

cases where others, without pain management awareness, had suggested

euthanasia. The vast majority of these cases resume high quality

lives for significant periods of time much to the delight of their

families. Clearly we have more and more pet owners committing to

extended patient care. Currently, the animal health profession, as a

group, is not adequately addressing the needs of these pets with

chronic pain, cancer pain, and weakness, leading to the loss of

countless days of potential companionship.

With your membership we become a much stronger organization. As we

gain strength, we increase our ability to support change within the

entire profession; we improve the future for all of our animal

patients. Please consider joining this compassionate group of

professionals.

Member benefits include access to our website and its resources

(currently undergoing major enhancements in content and usability),

our discussion forum (also currently undergoing a major upgrade), our

quarterly newsletter, a significantly reduced subscription to

Veterinary Anaesthesia & Analgesia, and you have the opportunity to

sit for our certification program currently under late stage

development.

We are currently developing a certification program that will likely

lead to the title " Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner " (CVPP). In

short, we hope that this certification structure will promote the

networking of allied pain related professionals. Our vision is that

this program will facilitate the development of multidisciplinary

teams in regions around the world. The certification program will

have a reasonably rigorous set of requirements including a major

investment in pain related CE hours. Completion of either

rehabilitation program should allow any member to satisfy our CE

requirements for sitting the examination based upon our current

working plan.

If I can answer any questions please don't hesitate to ask. When you

are ready to join, just follow this link:

http://www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/ivapm/professionals/members/2008IVAPM.p

df. If you look closely you will see that we currently have a reduced

membership fee for group membership. When 2 or more join from the

same facility the cost per member drops significantly.

Thanks for lending me your " ear " on this ever so important matter. I

hope to see you soon on our IVAPM roster and, most importantly, as a

future CVPP.

Warmest Regards,

Bob

M. Stein, DVM, DAAPM

Animal Pain Management Center (WNY)

President, IVAPM

VASG Founder/Webmaster

VIN Anesthesia/Analgesia Consultant

www.aapainmanage.org

www.managingpetpain.com

www.ivapm.org

www.vasg.org

www.vin.com

" Do No Harm - But First, Do Not Hurt. "