Stage 3 SIA (Advanced) Acute Inpatient Pain Training

Contact your Training Programme Director (TPD) or Regional Advisor in Pain Medicine (RAPM) and to discuss the pain training opportunities and availability of SIA placements in your region.

Register as early as you can with the Faculty of Pain Medicine, as this will ensure you are on a training updates mailing list and connected into training activities. 

Ensure you have familiarised yourself with the Stage 3 SIA in Acute Inpatient Pain training curriculum which sits within the CCT in Anaesthetics. Trainees are required to maintain a pain logbook; an example of which may be found on the FPM website with links to download all the necessary software. For further information, please visit the logbook section of our assessments page. 

It is also advisable to contact your Faculty Tutor (Pain) prior to starting as this will enable you to have a better knowledge of what resources are available to you and start to timetable these into your year to hit the ground running.

• Register with the Faculty of Pain Medicine at the Royal College of Anaesthetists.
• Familiarise yourself with the curriculum requirements.
• Set up and familiarise yourself with the faculty of pain logbook.
• Make contact with your new Pain Department.

During the departmental induction ensure you familiarise yourself with the location of outpatient clinics, examination rooms, theatres and associated departments (palliative care, paediatrics, etc.)

It is also useful to meet the pertinent professionals in allied departments, for example physiotherapy, psychotherapy, occupational therapy, pain nurses, and secretarial staff.

Meet with the College Tutor and the Faculty Tutor (Pain). Check that on call arrangements will allow you to gain maximum pain exposure. The Faculty advise that emergency anaesthetic work should not take place during normal working hours with the exception of unforeseen emergency situations.

Please see the assessments page for details of the assessments you need to complete in order to be signed off at the end of your Stage 3 SIA Pain Training. Arrange an initial meeting with your Faculty Tutor to agree a PDP. 

Complete the Quarterly Assessment Review form prior to this meeting. You will also need 1 x CBD, 1 A-CEX, and 1 x DOPs assessment completed as a minimum. These can be recorded on the LLp or as paper versions which can be downloaded from the assessments page. Your logbook will be used to sign off your completion of Stage 3 SIA in Acute Inpatient Pain Training.

By the end of your first 6 months of Stage 3 SIA Acute Inpatient Pain Training you should have completed: 

• 2 x A-CEX, 2 x CBD, 3 x DOP, 1x A-QIPAT
• 1 x MSF
• 2 x Quarterly reviews – with a completed and up to date logbook.

Completion of a HALO requires the following evidence:

• supervised learning events (ACEX, ALMAT, A-QIPAT, CBD, DOPS) to suggest level of supervision
• personal activities
• personal reflections
• multiple trainer report(s) that include Pain.

Now you've completed your training, you need to consider the type of department you would like to work in as a Consultant in the future. The FPM website has some guidance on Preparing for a Consultant Post, which you may find useful.

If you're not at the end of your training, you will need to think about how to maintain your Pain skills during the final part of your Anaesthetic training. The FPM has produced some guidance on this in the training FAQs section and advises that you should try to maintain at least one session in Pain Medicine per week. You should discuss this with your RAPM and TPD early to avoid rota and administrative issues.

Inpatient Pain Medicine consultants without the exam may still join the Faculty as Affiliate Fellows. This route come with membership benefits that are worth investigating and will keep you connected into the wider Pain Medicine community. Please visit our Membership page for further information