Pain – mechanisms and management 2010
Type of class Seminar
Offered by Medical Neurosciences
Instructor Prof. Dr. Halina Machelska
Schedule 3 hrs per week; day and time to be chosen by students
Location
Klinik für Anaesthesiologie und operative Intensivmedizin, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Forschungseinrichtung für Experiementelle Medizin (FEM), Krahmerstr. 6, Berlin, Kurssal IV/1
(take a bus 285 or M85 from S+U Rathaus Steglitz, and get off at Krahmerstr/Stockweg)
Target audience MSc and PhD students
ECTS points 3
Course description
This is a continuation of the “Pain” class which took part in winter semester 2009–2010. Participation in the first part is not required to attend the class this semester. The course addresses basic as well as unconventional aspects of pain and its treatment. It is based on lectures and analysis of articles. It involves active participation of students.
Topics
Pain after nerve injuries (neuropathic pain) – neurons, immune cells, glia
Phantom pain
Cancer pain
People without pain – pain genes
Gender differences in pain and its alleviation (analgesia)
Pain and psychology
Treatment of acute and chronic pain
* Main groups of analgesics and mechanisms of their action
* Site of analgesics’ action (central, peripheral; tolerance, side effects)
* New emerging pain therapies
Course structure
Each class is organized in two parts with one break (15 min). Each part consists of the following:
* Introductory presentation by myself: this is interactive with questions asked by students
* Presentation (15–20 min) of the manuscript (prepared at home) by a student
* Discussion of the manuscript with participation of all students:
This includes critical analysis of the suitability of the information provided in the introduction and analyzed in the discussion, validity of the methods and assessment of the results (statistical significance versus functional/clinical relevance).
Learning outcome
The major goals are: a) To address physiological and pathological aspects of pain; b) To see pain as a disease and not only as a symptom; c) To be able to present articles in a concise way to other students/teachers and gain skills in giving talks; d) To objectively analyze manuscripts as to the methods, statistics, relevance of the data, the quality of the introduction and discussion; and e) To be constructive in your criticism by suggesting options for improvement.