Wednesday 18 September 2019 3:54pm
This year's Pain@Otago summer studentship has been awarded Julia Corfe-Tan.
Chronic pain is considered one of the most prevalent long-term health conditions in New Zealand. Based on previous study findings it can be assumed that patients' understanding of chronic pain as a multidimensional, biopsychosocial phenomenon is an important indicator of patients' willingness to engage in active pain coping and for achieving successful pain management.
The study will be aiming to develop and valididate a questionnaire exploring such biopsychosocial pain-related beliefs in individuals with chronic pain. Participants will be recruited from new patients that are referred to the Southern District Health Board (SDHB) Persistent Pain Clinic.
Julia is a current Medical student and has previously completed her Bachelor of Pharmacy. Her interest in pain has been sparked through a series of lectures given by the Department of Psychological Medicine on acute and chronic pain. She hopes that this research will help her to understand more about chronic pain and that once she is in clinical practice she will be able to apply the biopsychosocial approach to pain management to support patients' well being.
Julia's primary supervisor for this project will be Dr Maria Kleinstäuber from the Department of Psychological Medicine.