EPM Global
In developing countries, pain is often poorly assessed and treated
This is due to lack of staff, inadequate knowledge and the scarcity or absence of analgesic drugs. EPM Global. The Essential Pain Management Global course was developed to improve pain management worldwide by working with health workers at a local level.
Participants in the EPM Global programme in Zambia (2017).
The Essential Pain Management (EPM) Global course is a cost-effective, multi-disciplinary programme, which encourages early handover of teaching to local instructors. It aims to improve knowledge of pain, to provide a simple framework for managing pain and to explore ways of overcoming local barriers.
EPM Global runs workshops across the globe, primarily in Africa.
History of the Essential Pain Management Global programme
The EPM Global programme was developed in Australia and New Zealand. The first course was held in Papua New Guinea in April 2010. Subsequent courses have been run throughout South East Asia, Mongolia, the Pacific Islands, Uganda and Rwanda. The EPM Global programme is managed by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and is grateful for the support of its many donors.
In 2013, the EPM Advisory Group was established with the purpose of running EPM Global courses across Africa. So far, courses have been run in:
- Benin
- Cameroon
- Ethiopia
- Guinea
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Nigeria
- Palestine
- Russia
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- South Africa (EPM UK short course)
- Tanzania
- Uganda and
- Zambia
Want to see more?
The ANZCA Faculty of Pain Medicine have created
an EPM Global promotional video.
Components of the programme
There are two parts to the EPM Global programme – the EPM Global Workshop and the EPM Global Instructor Workshop. Manuals and slides have been developed for both workshops.
The EPM Global Workshop is a one-day programme of interactive lectures and group discussions. The workshop teaches a system which uses the RAT model for recognising, assessing and treating pain and addresses pain management barriers.
The EPM Global Instructor Workshop is a half-day programme designed to provide participants with the knowledge and skills to become EPM Global instructors. Early handover of teaching to local instructors is very important because it encourages cooperation between local health workers, and because local instructors are more likely to understand specific local problems.
In most courses on the third day the newly qualified local instructors are supervised whilst they deliver the basic EPM Workshop to a whole new cohort of participants.
Who can attend?
The EPM Global programme is designed for any health worker who comes in contact with patients who have pain. It is aimed at “grass roots” workers and complements other higher level initiatives to improve pain management, for example, improving supply of morphine and other analgesics.
Participants may include doctors, nurses, clinic workers, pharmacists and other health workers. For some, the information in the EPM Global Workshop will be new. For others, the course will provide revision and a framework for teaching others. The workshop is also suitable for trainee doctors and nurses.
EPM Advisory Group (EPMAG)
The EPM Working Group was founded to encourage and facilitate the establishment, maintenance and improvement of overseas training in pain management through the EPM course. In July 2013, the Faculty gave an administrative home to the EPM working group and in 2016 formally admitted the group into the Faculty structure as the APM Advisory Group (EPMAG).
Over recent years the delivery of EPM in the UK has grown significantly to become a large part of the work of the EPMAG. Therefore, In 2019 the majority of the global work of the group was moved under the umbrella of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) / World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) EPM Steering committee which leads on international EPM strategy.’
Dr Clare Roques is Clinical Lead for EPM Global.
Click below for information on previous EPM Global Courses
Location: St Mary’s Hospital, Lacor, and Kumi Hospitals, Uganda
Date: throughout 2018
Funded by: Tropical Heath Education Trust (THET)
Project outline:
- A 12 month project to run Essential Pain Management (EPM) Workshops across Uganda building on previous visits and expanding the number of local trainers.
- A comprehensive and novel evaluation programme was included.
- The project was run in partnership with the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA), St Mary’s Hospital and Kumi Hospital, Uganda.
Project team:
- Clare Roques (Clinical Lead, UK)
- Ocen Davidson (Clinical Lead, Uganda)
- Martin Ogwang (St Mary’s Hospital)
- Robert Oluput (Kumi Hospital)
- Peter Kayima (St Mary’s Hospital)
- Patience Atumanya (EPM Fellow, Uganda)
- Andrew Vickers (UK Instructor)
- Sarah Aturia (UK Instructor)
- Jay Rajan (USA Instructor)
- Daniel Waeland (FPM RCoA)
- Aaliya Ahmed (WFSA)
- Claire Driver (FPM RCoA)
Location: Africa Mercy, Cotonou, Benin
Date: 31st October - 4th November 2017
Funded by: Mercy Ships, The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland Foundation, and The Royal College of Anaesthetists
Course Instructors:
- Dr Jane Mills, Consultant Anaesthetist, Hope Hospital, Salford, UK
- Dr Samantha Jayaweera, Anaesthetic Registrar, Oxford, UK
- Dr Helen Makins, Consultant in Pain Medicine, EPM UK Deputy Lead
Location: Yaounde, Cameroon
Date: 19th-22nd September 2017
Funded by: Mercy Ships, Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland Foundation, and the Royal College of Anaesthetists
Course instructors:
- Dr Helen Makins, Consultant in Pain Medicine, EPM UK Deputy Lead
- Dr Alan Fayaz, Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine
- Odry Agbessi, Consultant Plastic Surgeon.
Location: Gondar University Teaching Hospital, Gondar, Ethiopia
Date: 4th-6th March 2015
Funded by: The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland Foundation, and The Royal College of Anaesthetists
Course Instructors:
- Dr Jonny Rajan, Anaesthetic Registrar, Manchester, UK
- Dr Stephan Wilms, Consultant Anaesthetist, Berlin, Germany
- Dr Mensur, Senior Consultant Surgeon, Gondar, Ethiopia
- Mr Amare, Lead Nurse Anaesthetist, Gondar, Ethiopia.
Location: Cadessa Ophthalomology Clinic, Conakry, Guinea
Date: 18th-21st September 2018
Funded by: World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists, the Royal College of Anaesthetists, Mercy Ships
Course Instructors:
- Helen Makins, Course Director – Consultant in Pain Medicine, Deputy Lead of EPM UK, Member of EPM Advisory Group (FPM)
- Alan Fayaz, Consultant in Anaesthetics and Pain Medicine, University College London Hospitals
- Odry Agbessi, Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Cotonou, Republique du Benin
- Jane Mills, Medical Capacity Building Anaesthesia Facilitator, Mercy Ships.
Location: Africa Mercy, Antananarivo, Republic of Madagascar
Date: 2nd, 4th, 5th May 2016
Funded by: Mercy Ships and Essential Pain Management Advisory Group (EPMAG)
Course Instructors:
- Dr Clare Roques, Consultant Anaesthetist, Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, UK
- Dr Jane Mills, Consultant Anaesthetist, Hope Hospital, Salford, UK
- Prof Luc Samison, Antananarivo, Madagascar
Previous courses were held in Malawi in 2014 and March 2016 in Blantyre and Lilongwe.
June 2016, Blantyre
Location: Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre
Date: 15-17th June 2016
Funded by: The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland Foundation, and The Royal College of Anaesthetists
Course Instructors:
- Dr Rose Kamuntolo (Course Leader) Anaesthetist, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi
- Dr Isaac Chikonde, Palliative Nurse, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi
- Dr Zione Banda, Intensive Care In-Charge Nurse, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi
- Dr Charles Unyolo, Anaesthetist, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi
- Dr Kenneth Kapatuka, Anaesthetist, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi
- Dr Samantha Jayaweera, Anaesthetic Registrar, Oxford, UK
- Dr Karen Gilmore, Consultant in Pain Management, Plymouth, UK
Location: University of Ibadan Teaching Hospital, Nigeria
Date: 20th-22nd June 2017
Funded by: The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland Foundation and the Royal College of Anaesthetists
Course Instructors:
- Dr Yemi Babatola, Consultant Anaesthetist and Chronic Pain Clinician
Location: Palestine Medical Complex, Ramallah, Palestine
Date: 4th–6th December 2014
Funded by: World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists and the International Medical Education Trust – Palestine
Course Instructors:
- Dr Michael O’Connor, Associate Postgraduate Dean; Severn Postgraduate Medical Education, Bristol, UK; Former Consultant Anaesthetist Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Swindon, UK
- Dr Angela Enright, Anaesthetist; former President of WFSA, Victoria, Canada
- Dr Miodrag Milenovic, Anaesthetist and Member of WFSA Education Committee, Belgrade, Serbia
- Dr Julia Morch-Siddall, Consultant Anaesthetist, Newcastle, UK
- Dr Hafez Sami, Anaesthesiologist, Chicago, USA
- Dr Samer Hasan, WFSA Anaesthesia Training Program Representative, Medical Education Officer of IMET2000-Pal, Local Project Coordinator, Palestinian West Bank
Location: Petrozavodsk State University, Petrozavodsk, Russia
Date: 15th-17th October 2015
Funded by: World Federation of Societies Anaesthesiologists and Petrozavodsk State University
Course Instructors:
- Dr Angela Enright, Canada
- Dr Beverly Collett , UK
- Dr Arina Spasova, Russia
- Dr Anna Ezhevskaia, Russia
Location: Hotel Colonia, Dakar, Senegal
Dates: 17th September 2019 -20th September 2019, 24th September 2019 – 27th September 2019
Funded by: Mercy Ships
Course Instructors:
Week 1:
- Dr Helen Makins (UK)
- Dr Fozia Hayat (UK)
- Dr Odry Agbessi (Benin)
Week 2 :
- Dr Makins (UK)
- Dr Agbessi (Benin)
- Dr Ousmane Drame (Guinea)
Location: Bo & Kambia, Sierra Leone
Dates: 7th March, 12th-14th March, 28th March 2015
Funded by: Medecins Sans Frontieres
Course Instructors:
- Dr Phil Lacoux, Consultant Anaesthetist and Pain Physician, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, UK
- Mr Matthew Anderson
- Mr Lansana Kamara
- Mr Ibrahim Fofonah
- Mr Musa Koroma
Location: Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town
Date: 20th & 22nd June 2016
Funded by: Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, University of Cape Town
Course Instructors:
- Dr Michael O'Connor, Associate Postgraduate Dean, Severn Postgraduate Medical Education, Bristol UK
- Dr Rowan Duys, Dräger Fellow in Education and Simulation, UCT Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Cape Town, South Africa
- Dr Tory Madden, UCT Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Cape Town, South Africa
- Professor Romy Parker, Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa
Location: Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Date: 21st-23rd January 2015
Funded by: The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland Foundation and The Royal College of Anaesthetists
Course Instructors:
- Dr Michael O’Connor, Associate Postgraduate Dean; Severn Postgraduate Medical Education, Bristol, UK; Former Consultant Anaesthetist Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Swindon, UK
- Dr Moses Mulungu, Anaesthesiologist, Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
- Dr Phil Lacoux, Consultant Anaesthetist, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, UK
A previous course was held at St Mary's Hospital, Lacor in 2014.
2017
Location: St Mary's Hospital, Lacor, Uganda
Date: 16th-17th February 2017
Funded by: The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland Foundation, and The Royal College of Anaesthetists
Course instructors:
- Dr Andrew Vickers, Consultant in Anaesthetics and Pain Medicine
- Dr Ocen Davidson, Anaesthesiologist
- Dr Sarah Aturia, Consultant in Anaesthetics and Pain Medicine
- Mr Okello Tom, Consultant Surgeon
- Mr Okongo Francis, Palliative Care Specialist Clinical Officer and a Registrar of Gulu Cancer Registry
- Dr Rachel Eyre, Surgical trainee, UK
Location: Levy Mwanawasa Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia
Date: 31st October - 2nd November 2017
Funded by: World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists, Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Royal College of Anaesthetists
Course Instructors:
- Dr Michael O'Connor, EPM Advisory Group, Faculty of Pain Medicine, Royal College of Anaesthetists and former Associate Dean, Bristol
- Dr Masuzyo Zyambo, Senior Registrar University Teaching Hospital (UTH), Lusaka
- Dr Abel Mwale, Senior Registrar, Cancer Diseases Hospital, Lusaka
- Dr Fozia Hayat, ZADP Senior Honorary Lecturer, UTH, Lusaka
- Dr Alison Jarman, ZADP Senior Honorary Lecturer, UTH, Lusaka
- Dr Clare Roques, Consultant Anaesthetists, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, UK Chair, EPM Advisory Group, Faculty of Pain, Royal College of Anaesthetists
