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President’s Message

Back in 1993, when I first entered active duty, I was given a valuable lesson in military regulations and accountability: You may have specific duty hours, but you are an officer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This hit home when I was recalled from vacation in Egypt and Israel to deploy within 72 hours in support of the Bosnia peace agreement signed in December 1995.

Being president of ASRA Pain Medicine is not exactly the same, but it is as close to a 24-7 job as any non-full-time role can be. There are emails, texts, and phone calls that require attention in the evening, on weekends, and on holidays. Our organization is built on volunteerism by enthusiastic and talented people who are dedicated to our shared mission of education, research, and advocacy, all geared to improving patient outcomes along the entire spectrum of pain care. In our leadership roles as board members, special interest group leaders, committee chairs and members, and employees, we are often tasked with carrying out our duties and meeting in the evenings and on weekends, when we’d rather be doing something different. Often, the decisions we make have ramifications that are not immediately realized (eg, credit is delayed and dispersed, institution and regulatory body announcements can have unexpected or unintended consequences).

Across-the-board cuts in institutional, support, and reimbursement funding can happen at any time, requiring us, as a society, to weigh our goals of expanding services and supporting a diverse membership against our fiduciary responsibilities as elected and appointed representatives. Thank you to the tireless volunteers who dedicate their time to this demanding but important work. I am pleased to note that, although difficult decisions must often be made, ASRA Pain Medicine remains steadfast in its commitment to investing in research, education, and advocacy. Since 2020, we have granted more than $725,000 in research funding and dedicated more than $500,000 to trainee education year-over-year. We also have some exciting meetings and new educational formats coming soon as part of our continued efforts to advance the society’s mission.

Upcoming Meetings: Connect, Learn, Lead

The 24th Annual Pain Medicine Meeting will be held November 13-15, 2025, in Austin, TX, which is the capital of the second-largest state and home to a vibrant nightlife and cultural scene. Co-chairs Drs. Anuj Bhatia and Sandy Christiansen will lead a meeting on “The Full Spectrum of Pain Care,” featuring world-renowned speakers. Sessions will cover new procedures for spinal pain, neurodestructive treatments for pain, neuromodulation, and cancer pain management. The meeting will also feature Kimberly Gonzalez from the United States Drug Enforcement Agency Diversion Department discussing the current state of the nation’s opioid epidemic: the responsibility of law enforcement and the medical community.

Thank you to the tireless volunteers who dedicate their time to this demanding but important work. I am pleased to note that, although difficult decisions must often be made, ASRA Pain Medicine remains steadfast in its commitment to investing in research, education, and advocacy.

We will also offer the first-ever preconference symposium on Advancing Practice Across the Military and VA Health Systems, which will feature the United States Army, Navy, and Air Force pain management consultants to the surgeons general, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ anesthesia and pain management specialty leaders, speakers from Ukraine, and the rollout of the much-awaited “Neuromodulation Guidelines in Active-Duty Service Members,” led by Colonel Brian McLean, Captain Ryan Phillips, and me.

The ASRA Pain Medicine/Association of Pain Program Directors Advanced Interventional Pain Management Course and Hands-On Workshop for Fellows will take place on Wednesday, November 12. This event received a record number of applications and will be the largest in our history. Thank you to our sponsors: Abbott, Boston Scientific, Globus, and Medtronic (as of the time this was written). The course will feature some of the most relevant and popular topics in pain practice, taught by national and international experts in pain management. With clinical competency around a host of spine- and non-spine-related chronic pain conditions, practice management, and hands-on cadaver training in advanced and state-of-the-art interventions, this course is designed to enhance the skills of these fellows as they continue through fellowship and into practice.

In 2026, we will also change the venue for our Ultrasound-Guided Regional Anesthesia Course. The course will be held January 31-February 1, 2026, in picturesque Chapel Hill, NC. It is a MUST for anyone who performs ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia techniques. Attendees will learn from world-renowned experts in a supportive, hands-on environment for practitioners at every level, from foundational to advanced. In 2026, this course will coincide with World Day of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine on Saturday, January 31. Led by the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia & Pain Therapy , this event brings together the global medical community to shine a spotlight on regional anesthesia and pain medicine. Drs. Rajnish Gupta and Rakesh Sondekoppam will lead ASRA Pain Medicine’s participation.. Keep an eye out for more information and opportunities to participate.

ASRA Pain Medicine Edge: Education Anytime, Anywhere

When I was a student, a teacher stood in front of a class of about 30 students and spoke for 45-50 minutes. Although some students were engaged and absorbed the material, many did not. Medical education has evolved as well, and we at ASRA Pain Medicine are at the forefront of this revolution. ASRA Pain Medicine’s meetings now feature symposia outlining divergent views from different perspectives, small group-based and problem-based learning discussions, interactive sessions, pre-symposium presentations on state-of-the-art research, and individual lectures that have decreased from 45 minutes to about 15 minutes, allowing the distillation of complex topics into key points in short timeframes, while audience members remain riveted.

This fall, we launched ASRA Pain Medicine EDGE, EDucation Gateway for Excellence, led by Dr. Stuart Grant. This new learning management system provides you with access to a wide variety of important topics presented by renowned experts in real-time, wherever you are, whenever you need them, and in time snippets that fit your needs. The formats available will consist of lectures, webinars, and podcasts as well as guidelines, reviews, and original research. Users will be able to earn CME where and when they need it most. This platform will also provide an opportunity to live-stream webinars, the upcoming 24th Annual Pain Medicine Meeting, and future symposium events.

As I embark on the second quarter of my presidency, I acknowledge the challenges we face—fewer people entering fellowships, cuts in research funding, issues surrounding payer authorization and reimbursement—but am optimistic that we, as the premier pain medicine society in the Western Hemisphere, are poised to meet and address these obstacles. I continue to draw inspiration from the boundless enthusiasm of our volunteers and members, who form the foundation of ASRA Pain Medicine and without whose efforts we would not be the Voice of Pain Medicine. As I have written previously, like any team, a good meal, a military unit, or even a living organism, the whole of ASRA Pain Medicine is greater than the sum of its individual parts.