EM114: The Pain Jigsaw: Piecing together complexity in everyday musculoskeletal practice

Course Educators:
Dr Niamh Moloney PhD, MManipTh, BPhysio(Hons)
Dr Martin Rabey PhD, FACP, MManipTh, BSc(Hons)Physio

Course Outline: Musculoskeletal conditions are influenced by factors from many different dimensions: movement, psychological, social, pain sensitivity, health and lifestyle. To optimize treatment in either acute or persistent conditions, clinicians need to piece together multiple dimensions of an individual’s presentation. This course will provide participants with the skills and tools to assess and treat multiple dimensions of the pain jigsaw commonly seen in primary & secondary care. The course will be case-based and include live patient presentations.

Course Objectives:
1.     Present evidence for multiple dimensions in common musculoskeletal conditions, and how this relates to pain physiology and multi-system responses in patient presentations
2.     Provide strategies and tools for examining psychological, social, perceptual and health- and lifestyle- related contributions
3.     Demonstrate practical skills for expanded pain assessments, assessment of perception and adaptive/maladaptive movement responses during physical assessment
4.     Interpret findings from clinical cases to develop and deliver more effective treatment strategies based on multiple dimensions

Dr Niamh Moloney is a Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist who combines almost 20 years of clinical and academic experience. Her PhD (2012) investigated pain and sensory profiles in people with neck and arm pain, with her subsequent research focusing on assessment of pain profiles and its impact on prognosis and treatment response. In her research and clinical practice she has applied these approaches to a number of musculoskeletal conditions. She has taught in the area of pain and musculoskeletal physiotherapy since 2005 holding positions at the University of Sydney (Lecturer) and Macquarie University, Sydney (Senior Lecturer, currently Honorary Research Fellow) and contributing to the Neuromusculoskeletal Masters, University College Dublin. She currently lives in Guernsey where she combines her research and teaching with clinical practice.
 
Dr Martin Rabey is a Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapists. His PhD (2016), completed at Curtin University in Perth, explored the complex interactions between multiple dimensions (pain sensitivity, psychological, health and lifestyle, movement, behaviour, demographics, socioeconomics) associated with persistent low back pain. Following this, he was part of a team researching complex interventions for persistent low back pain at Neuroscience Research Australia. He has since returned to clinical practice in Guernsey in the Channel Islands where he grew up. His ongoing research revolves around the examination and management of chronic pain disorders. He has been teaching pain physiology to clinicians since 2001.