Physicians treating Chronic Pain in the Southeastern United States are under attack from the media, government, and law enforcement. In spite of being attacked, they persistently and effectively care for their patients with chronic pain.  With the changes in laws (in NC and SC in particular) and the exodus of practitioners from pain medicine, burdens on practice have become overwhelming with complicated patients presenting for care.  Therefore, continuing education and training are needed for physicians and health care professionals to address gaps in knowledge and competencies underlying the performance and patient outcomes regarding the identification and treatment of chronic pain and addiction and how it can be done within the boundaries of licensing rules and law.     The 2017  Duke Pain Meeting focus is integrating addiction and current legislation with protecting both the patient’s access to quality chronic pain care and the physician’s practice so that we maintain competent professionals within this specialty.

The IOM, in its 2011 report, called for a “population health-level strategy for pain prevention, treatment, management, education, reimbursement and research”.  This live activity addresses this call to action by providing the education to the medical professionals charged with the care of pain patients in North Carolina and beyond.