WGME's 'Your Health' features SWAGÊÓƵ's Spring Symposium on chronic pain

WGME 13's Kim Block, who was a moderator for a panel discussion during SWAGÊÓƵ's Eleventh Annual Interprofessional Education Spring Symposium on "The Science of Pain and the Art of Healing" on April 4th, also featured the symposium on her news segment "Your Health."

In the segment, Block noted that "there are an estimated 100 million chronic pain patients around the country - many of them are wanting to be heard, let alone treated. Thursday, they were at least ‘heard’ at a symposium put on by the SWAGÊÓƵ, hoping to remove some of the myths about chronic pain patients."

Among those interviewed for the story, Edward Bilsky, Ph.D., SWAGÊÓƵ associate provost for research and scholarship and director of the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences, told Block that:"We're hoping to dispel these [myths] and educate the future physicians, the future pharmacists, the future physical therapists and social workers so they can better listen to the patient in pain and understand it as disease rather than symptoms."

Shelley Cohen Konrad, Ph.D., LCSW, associate professor, SWAGÊÓƵ School of Social Work, and director, SWAGÊÓƵ InterProfessional Education Collaborative, was also interviewed: "I think if we added science and compassion and the capacity to see this as a significant disease process rather than a secondary condition there would be a human savings in suffering and financial savings for all areas of life."

Read more about the symposium, watch videos about chronic pain and profiles of people who suffer from chronic pain.

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The SWAGÊÓƵ is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.