Pain Medicine Specialist
Pain Medicine is the medical discipline concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of the entire range of painful disorders. An Anesthesiologist who specializes in Pain Medicine provides a high level of care, either as a primary physician or consultant, for patients experiencing problems with acute, chronic and/or cancer pain in both hospital and ambulatory settings. Due to the vast scope of the field, Pain Medicine is a multidisciplinary subspecialty and patient care needs may be coordinated with other specialists.
Anesthesiologist
An Anesthesiologist is trained to provide pain relief and maintenance or restoration of a stable condition during and immediately following an operation or an obstetric or diagnostic procedure. The Anesthesiologist assesses the risk of the patient undergoing surgery and optimizes the patient’s condition prior to, during and after surgery. In addition to these management responsibilities, the Anesthesiologist provides medical management and consultation in pain management and critical care medicine. Anesthesiologists diagnose and treat acute, long-standing and cancer pain problems, diagnose and treat patients with critical illnesses or severe injuries and direct resuscitation in the care of patients with cardiac or respiratory emergencies, including the need for artificial ventilation, and supervise post anesthesia recovery.
American Board of Anesthesiology