Access Current Interactive Modules

Ava: Anterior Pelvic Pain During Pregnancy

Ava is a 28-year-old Puerto Rican woman who is seven months pregnant. She complains of anterior pelvic pain that began several weeks ago.

Betty Miller: An Older Female with Right Shoulder Pain

Betty Miller is a 77-year-old female who has had right shoulder pain for 4 weeks. Through the case study, you will follow Betty through a visit to her primary care provider and pharmacist; a home health services for nursing, social services and physical therapy; and a primary care provider follow-up visit.

Beverly: Burning Mouth Syndrome and Related Orofacial Pain

Beverly is a middle-aged woman with pain in the roof of her mouth, tongue and occasionally sides of her mouth.

Breast Pain

Follow three case studies that cover pain with breastfeeding, mastitis, and postmastectomy pain syndrome along with other breast pain topics.

Catherine: Chronic Pain with Multiple Co-Morbidities, Using Measurement-Based Tools

Catherine is a 46-year-old woman with Chronic Low Back Pain (CLBP), obesity, poorly controlled diabetes with peripheral neuropathy, and ankle pain on high dose opioids for past 4 years.

Charlie: Opioid Misuse Following Wisdom Teeth Extraction (Teenager)

Charlie is a 17-year-old Caucasian male, accompanied by mother Sarah. He is about to undergo surgical extraction of maxillary third molars. . This case centers on the appropriate prescribing of opioids for post operative dental pain. It describes the role of the pharmacist in identifying suspected opioid misuse, abuse and diversion. Finally the case presents an example of opioid misuse and diversion and the consequences of such misuse.

Christine: Orofacial Pain

Christine is a 30-year-old woman referred by her local ENT doctor. She says she's experiencing excruciating pain in her jaw.

Courtney: Perioperative Pain Management for Pediatric Patients

This module follows Courtney, a now 19-year-old woman who underwent surgery to correct idiopathic scoliosis at 14. It discusses the appropriate approach to the management of pain with adolescents undergoing surgery for idiopathic scoliosis.

Delores: Musculoskeletal Pain and Moderate to Severe Dementia

Mrs. Rose is an 89-year-old, widowed white female who has resided in a nursing home for the past 3 months.  Admission was precipitated by inability to function independently, related to Dementia Alzheimer’s –type (DAT) and to widespread arthritic pain.  Her mobility is severely limited.

Devon: Sickle Cell Disease and Pain

‘Devon’s Disparate Dealings: Sickle Cell Disease and Pain’ presents the case of a 15-year-old black male with sickle cell disease who presents to the emergency department in severe pain.

Diana The Declining Dancer: Chronic Pelvic and Jaw Pain

Diana is a 19 year-old woman with pelvic pain and jaw pain since adolescence. She is seeing her provider for advice on how to manage her pain as it seems to be getting worse and is limiting the things she likes to do like dance and eat her favorite foods.

Donald Williams: Older Adult Right Total Knee Arthroplasty

Donald Williams is a a 77-year-old veteran with osteoarthritis and an old football injury to his right knee. He has just undergone a right knee total arthroplasty 5 days ago.

Edna: An Older Adult with Chronic Low Back Pain

Edna is a 70-year-old woman with chronic low back pain.  After completing the course, you should be able to differentiate the weak link and the treatment targets in older adults with chronic low back pain, articulate realistic treatment expectations for chronic non-cancer pain, and describe a rational stepped care treatment approach for older patients with chronic low back pain.

Eric: Acute Pain Management in Patients with Opioid Use Disorder

Eric is a 23-year-old man actively using IV heroin. He presents with right leg pain and swelling after injecting heroin into the muscle. 

Harold: Trauma Pain

Harold is an adult male with pain from trauma experienced in a car accident. This case covers assessing the aspects of the pain experience in a trauma patient with substance use disorder by integrating the health history into the treatment decision-making process, examining multimodal approaches to treat acute trauma across transitions of care, recognizing the biopsychosocial impact of the treatment of acute pain in patients with substance use disorder, and designing an appropriate treatment plan using case-based learning to address acute trauma related pain in patient with substance use disorder.

Interprofessional Management of Acute to Chronic Leg Pain

CA is a 48-year-old female patient who is status post left total knee replacement arthroplasty under a general anesthetic. Patient controlled analgesia was initiated in the post-anesthesia care unit. After transfer to the regular ward, the patient complains of worsening acute post-surgical pain coupled with chronic pain from inflammatory degenerative joint disease.

Jane: Acute Dental Pain

A 35-year-old woman presents to the hospital emergency department with pain in the lower jaw.

Joan: Pain Policy Analysis and Advocacy

Joan is a breast cancer survivor turned patient advocate. Learn about policy and advocacy through her journey following a double mastectomy and subsequent surgeries.

Joe: Chronic Headaches in the Young Adult

Joe is a graduate student with increasing headache frequency for the past 2-3 month. They occur daily and disrupt his coursework and studying. Some are severe with nausea and light sensitivity, while others are mild. In addition to his headaches, Joe experiences neck pain and muscle tension.

Joyce: Osteoarthritis of the Knee and Risk for Substance Use Disorder

Joyce is a 40-year-old woman with osteoarthritis of the knee and risk for substance use disorder.

Luisa Sanchez: Hispanic Older Adult with Acute Neck Pain

Luisa is a 69-year-old Hispanic woman who is having acute neck pain. Her pain began two weeks ago, after she spent two days making tamales for a church function.

Maeve: Ear Pain

Maeve, a 28-year-old female with limited access to dental care and no dental insurance, is seen with a chief complaint of right temporomandibular pain causing pain in the right ear.

Margaret Anderson: An Older Adult with Limited Communication

Margaret Andersen is an 85-year-old woman with limited communication who demonstrates changes in behavior two weeks after entering a nursing care facility.

Margaret:17-Year-Old Girl With Headache and Jaw Pain

Margaret presents to the pharmacy seeking a recommendation for treating persistent headaches that she has been experiencing. The pharmacist notes that the patient has been visiting the pharmacy routinely for the past 2 months.

Maria: Pain Treatment in a Patient With OUD

Maria is a 31-year-old Hispanic female with a five year history of lower back pain with intermittent radiculopathy complicated by an approximately two year history of opioid use disorder (OUD). She presents for assistance with her back pain.

Marty: Perioperative Pain Management

Marty James is a 55-year-old African American female with a 10 year history of left knee pain.

Mary: Pain in a Patient with Metastatic Cancer

Mary is a 74 year old woman with a history of breast cancer metastatic to the ribs, hypertension, and osteoarthritis. She complains of newly developed right-sided hip pain.

Melanie: Acute to Chronic Orofacial Pain

Melanie is a 15-year-old girl with jaw clicking with and without pain, and frequent headaches over the last three months. This course illustrates the foundational underpinnings of pain, pain assessment and pain management strategies using a longitudinal case of acute to persistent/chronic orofacial pain with mixed nociceptive and neuropathic phenotypes.

Melissa: Medication Overuse Headache

Recognizing medication overuse headache in patients presenting with chronic migraine. In this case study, we present a 39-year-old woman who has been experiencing near daily headache for the last 4 months and her successful treatment.

Mildred: An Older Adult with Persistent Knee Pain and Dementia

Mildred is 83 years old and suffers from chronic, constant knee pain that prevents her from doing things around the house. She recently moved next door to her son so he can provide the extra help she needs with grocery shopping, cooking, and doing heavier housework. An x-ray of her knee displays moderate to severe knee osteoarthritis.

Morgan: Adolescent Headache Case

This is a case of a fourteen year old girl with worsening headaches. The case covers four months, beginning with entries into her video diary ("vlog" or "video blog"). She explores several approaches to headache management in a series of encounters with health professionals.

Mr. Clark: Gout in an Older Adult

Mr. Clark is an 80 year old, moderately overweight Caucasian male who awoke two nights ago with severe pain in his left foot. He has tried elevating his foot and has taken ibuprofen, with minimal pain relief. His wife states that he has some problems with his memory. She states that he has not been able to sleep, and asks the urgent care staff to give him something for the pain as well as something to help him sleep.

Mr. Frank: Pain Assessment in Cognitively Impaired Older Adults

Mr. Frank is an 80-year-old nursing home resident. Recent years have been marked by progressive cognitive decline attributed to Alzheimer’s disease. Two days prior to admission, the nursing home staff noted decreased oral intake and resistance to care but were able to dose usual medications. This progressed over the subsequent day with Mr. Frank noted to be agitated, resistant to care and uncharacteristically aggressive. Transfer to acute care facility was arranged after Mr. Frank fell from his chair.

Mr. Gateway: Acute and Chronic Head Pain

Mr. Gateway is a 52-year-old male smoker with a history of substance abuse with recurrent laryngeal cancer who presents with increased throat and neck pain, dysphagia (pain with swallowing), and dehydration.

Mr. Jones, Mrs. Hubbard, Mrs. Miller, and Mr. Nguyen

Follow 52-year-old Mr. Jones, 78-year-old Mrs. Hubbard, 38-year-old Mrs. Miller, and 45-year-old Mr. Nguyen as their care teams navigate opioid management for their acute pain once hospitalized.

Mr. Lane: Acute Farm Injury with Chronic Pain

This case presentation follows a 43-year-old farmer named Mr. Lane who injured his right arm after it got stuck in a combine. He was then air lifted to a tertiary care center. The case includes Mr. Lane's initial injury, acute pain, and the development of chronic pain and acute on chronic pain.

Mr. Monahan: Chronic Knee and Back Pain

Mr. Monahan is a retired, community-dwelling, 81 year old Caucasian male who was a carpet installer for 50 years. He has a history of lower back pain, morbid obesity, hypertension, hypothyroid, occipital lobe stroke, bilateral knee arthroplasty, GERD and sleep apnea. You are seeing Mr. Monahan in his home.

Mr. Smith: Chronic Pain in an HIV-infected Patient with a History of Substance Abuse

Mr. Smith is a 46 year-old male with a history of HIV, hepatitis C cirrhosis, and substance abuse, presenting with bilateral hip pain.

Mr. Wakefield: Wounded Warrier

Mr. Wakefield is a young Army veteran with chronic low back pain and depression. His physical exam demonstrates musculoskeletal pain and lumbar facet arthropathy (joint pain in his lower back).

Mrs. Farley: Chronic Temporomandibular Joint and Fibromyalgia Pain

Mrs. Christine Farley has been suffering from temporomandibular joint (jaw) and myofascial (muscular) pain, and you are asked to be part of her inter-professional team to advise on how to best help manage her pain.

Mrs. Jackson: The Transition from Acute to Chronic Pain in a Cancer Survivor

Ms. Jackson is a 38-year-old, African American nurse who completed treatment for triple negative breast cancer 5 months ago. She opted for bilateral mastectomy, radiation, and chemotherapy. The patient is frustrated that she still experiences pain, states “it’s ruining my life."

Mrs. Johnson: Geriatric Low Back Pain from the Perspective of the Medical Home Model

Mrs. Johnson is an 80-year-old obese woman with progressively incapacitating low back pain for 1 year.

Mrs. Smith: Postoperative Pain - Inroads Into Pain Management

This module follows an older adult named Mrs. Smith as you explore the physiological and pathophysiological mechanisms for how acute postoperative pain can lead to chronic pain and relevance to post-thoracotomy pain.

Mrs. Wright: Opioid Conversion in Medically Complex Patients

The module follows Mrs. Wright, a 65-year-old woman with a past medical history that includes chronic low back pain, anxiety, hypertension, diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

Mrs. Wright: Opioid Use Risk and Risk Mitigation

The module follows Mrs. Wright, a 65-year-old woman with a past medical history that includes chronic low back pain, anxiety, hypertension, diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Mrs. Wright has been admitted to the hospital for repair of a broken ankle. You, the learner, will assist the orthopedic and pain teams with her care.

Ms. Mondragon’s Acute and Chronic Injuries After a Fall

Ms. Mondragon is a thin, 71-year-old, widowed Hispanic Spanish-Speaking woman whose son is serving as interpreter in the emergency department. Ms. M. fell this morning in her kitchen. She presents with upper back pain, groin pain, and left hip pain radiating anteriorly to the knee.

Ms. Rhodes: Chronic Pelvic Pain

Ms. Rhodes is a 46-year-old woman with CPP: Stage IV endometriosis (cyclic component of pain treated with continuous oral contraceptives), abdominal and pelvic floor muscle pain, vestibulodynia, IBS with constipation, possible IC, anxiety and depression and sexual dysfunction.

Ms. Tatum Trauma Pain and Opioid Use Disorder

Ms. Tatum is a 30 year-old woman with a history of opioid use disorder (heroin and fentanyl) who has been treated for 2 months with buprenorphine/naloxone (Suboxone) in a substance use disorder treatment program. 4 months after she transitioned her medications to her PCP, she was in a Motor Vehicle Accident and sustained multiple left-sided rib fractures as well as a jaw fracture. She has severe pain in the face, neck, and ribs and needs an acute pain management plan.

Nestor: 7-Year-Old Non-Verbal Boy with Apparent Pain

Nestor is a 7-year-old non-verbal developmentally disabled boy with pain on movement for six months.

Neuropathic Pain Mechanisms, Neuromodulating Agents and Medical Home Model

This foundational course covers terms and concepts of neuropathic pain, anatomical basis for neuropathic pain, clinical applications of aberrant nociceptive processing; general concepts of pharmacological treatment of neuropathic pain, anticonvulsants, anti-depressants and other neuromodulating agents; medical home models, treatment planning in the medical home context, motivating patients to participate in comprehensive care.

Opioids: Perspectives, Use Cases and Safe Management

In this foundational module, learn more about the global challenge of pain care, applications of opioids globally, features of specific opioids available locally; opioids in context, definitions of tolerance and physical dependence, management of chronic non-cancer pain; safe management definitions: clear lines and gray areas, societal impact of prescription drug abuse, assessment and management of risk in the physician’s office.

Owen: Opioid Overdose Risk and Naloxone

Owen Jones is a 46-year-old man who presents for followup of low back pain with intermittent radicular symptoms and numbness which started ~ 2 years ago following a lifting related injury. He describes the pain as, "Sharp, pinching, and sore."

Pain Assessment in Persons with Dementia

This is an overview of competencies of pain assessment specific to cognitively impaired older adults.

Pain Prevalence, Assessment and Treatment

This foundational module covers US versus global pain prevalence, barriers to pain treatment, and assessment of how own pain experiences and pain treatment attitudes will impact patient care.

Pam: Post-Mastectomy Pain Syndrome

Pam is a 41-year-old woman diagnosed with breast cancer approximately one year ago. Pam underwent treatment including a bilateral mastectomy and subsequent breast reconstruction. Now she is experiencing pain that she feels should be improving.

Peter James: A Veteran with Phantom Limb Pain

Peter James is a 49-year-old veteran with phantom limb pain. While in the reserves he was injured by an IED in Afghanistan. His lower left leg was amputated at Walter Reed. He  wants to better control his phantom limb pain so he can take on a farm management opportunity.

Sarah: Widespread Pain and Fibromyalgia

Sarah suffers whiplash following a car accident. She then goes on to develop widespread pain and associated fatigue. Her pain interferes with work and daily activities.

Sharee: Adolescent Sickle Cell Disease

Sharee is a teenage girl coping with pain crises related to sickle cell disease (SCD). The case provides a history of the disease onset and progression from infancy though high school as seen from her perspective explained by case principals. The case then provides details of a pain crisis episode as she prepares to transition from high school to college.

Tylee: The Story of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Related Pain

Tylee is a 20-year-old male who has suffered with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) all of his life. This longitudinal case covers his diagnosis, medical history and his pain from age six months to current age.

Wendy Jones: Case of Advanced Cancer - Introduction to Primary Palliative Care Skills

Wendy Jones is a 67-year-old woman with terminal cervical cancer who just underwent a colostomy due to bowel obstruction from tumor growth. She continues to complain of significant pain despite large doses of Percocet (7 tabs/day or 100 tablets every two weeks).