Does feeling pain help prepare future clinicians to treat pain? A qualitative exploration of a novel experiential approach to teaching health professional students about pain

ABSTRACT

Background and Introduction

Pain is a subjective phenomenon, that is often misunderstood and invalidated. Despite recent advances in health professional training, it remains unclear how students should be taught about the subjectivity of pain. This study explored how a novel teaching activity that integrated physiotherapy students’ first-hand experiences with laboratory-induced pain could address this gap.

Objective

The study aimed to explore the experiences and perceptions of physiotherapy students in relation to a workshop where physiotherapy students experienced laboratory induced pain.

Methods

We used a descriptive qualitative research design. Eighteen students participated in interviews. Transcripts were analyzed using an inductive conventional content analysis.

Results

We identified four overarching themes: 1) First-hand pain experiences facilitated engagement in learning; 2) Reflecting on these personal and peer pain experiences helped students make sense of pain; 3) The learning activity helped students understand the inherent subjectivity and complexity of pain; and 4) Students saw benefits for clinical practice.

Conclusion

Integrating first-hand pain experiences within entry-level physiotherapy training appears to have novel value in helping students understand pain subjectivity. Future research should use robust and controlled designs to explore how this novel approach can be used to facilitate further understanding and empathy within clinical interactions with people living with pain.

KEYWORDS:

• Pain management
• education
• healthcare
• physiotherapy
• qualitative

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank to students who participated in this study. Anne Hudon and Timothy Wideman are supported by a Junior 1 salary career bursary from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQ-S). Nathan Augeard is supported by a Doctoral Studentship from the Louise and Alan Edwards Foundation. Timothy Wideman is also supported by research funds from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Disclosure statement

AH, NA, EH, CT, GB have no competing interests to declare. TW was the professor who developed the novel pedagogical Workshop and taught the pain course to physiotherapy students, including study participants.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé [Junior 1 Salary Award]; Louise and Alan Edwards Foundation [nil]; Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire en réadaptation du Montréal métropolitain [nil].