Pain Education in Undergraduate Medical Curricula: In Depth Situation Analysis

Abstract

Background: Pain is one of the most common symptoms for which people seek help from physicians. However, it is not well emphasized over the curriculum and evaluation methods of medical, dental or nursing curricula. In countries such as Bangladesh, where public health is the most important topic in the health sector, pain is often overlooked. To address this problem and establish a solution, changes should be made to the curriculum by analyzing the current requirements of modernization and robust evidence of disease burden.
Methods: This was an observational study that evaluated undergraduate medical, dental and nursing education. Topics and Key words were used for evaluation of curriculam and written questions. Six universities in Bangladesh that followed the same curriculum and their written questions papers from 2014-2016 were assessed. “Curriculum of undergraduate dental education in Bangladesh-2016” and “BSc Nursing Curriculum 2018” were also explored.
Results: In the undergraduate medical curriculum, no dedicated module is allocatedfor pain, but they are taught under the general module, which consists of only 19 hours among 7198 hours. In BSc nursing, a total of 2412 hours are allocated, of which only 25 hours are for pain management. The highest 7.11% in Dhaka University and lowest 0% marks in University of Science and
Technology, Chittagong, were allocated.
Conclusion: Dedicated pain curricula with purpose, planning for implementation,and encouraging learners can make a difference in motivating healthcare professionals for better pain management situations in Bangladesh.