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pain management

A post-residency program of study that prepares physicians in the diagnosis, management, and treatment of acute and chronic pain. Includes instruction in anesthesiology, pain assessment, pain classification and diagnosis, pain neuroscience, palliative and end-of-life care, physical medicine and rehabilitation, psychiatry of pain, pain pharmacology, public policy, and legal issues of pain management.

What pain management Majors Need to Know

Coursework for pain management develop a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that pain management graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in pain management emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Medicine and Dentistry — Importance 4.9 / 5; level 6.4 / 7.
• Biology — Importance 4.6 / 5; level 5.5 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.4 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Psychology — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 5.4 / 7.
• Education and Training — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 5.3 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set developed in a pain management program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Judgment and Decision Making — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.

Abilities

The cognitive and physical abilities most relevant to pain management careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Problem Sensitivity — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 5.2 / 7.
• Inductive Reasoning — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 5.2 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 5.1 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, pain management graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Assisting and Caring for Others	4.8 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.8 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.7 / 7
Getting Information	4.7 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.6 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.5 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.5 / 7
Processing Information	4.5 / 7
Analyzing Data or Information	4.5 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.4 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by pain management professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Email software	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	—
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	—
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	—
Epic Systems	Medical software	✓
simplifyMD	Medical software	—
Vitera Healthcare Solutions Vitera Intergy	Medical software	—
Kareo Practice Management	Medical software	—
IOS Health Systems Medios EHR	Medical software	—
HealthFusion MediTouch	Medical software	—
GalacTek ECLIPSE	Medical software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for pain management graduates include:

• Physician
• MD (Medical Doctor)
• DO Physician (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Physician)
• Hospitalist Physician
• Urologist
• Nocturnist
• Neurohospitalist
• Pediatric Hospitalist Physician
• Nocturnist Hospitalist
• Academic Hospitalist
• Hospitalist Medical Doctor (Hospitalist MD)
• Internal Medicine Hospitalist
• Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Hospitalist (Neonatal ICU Hospitalist)
• Consultant Physician
• Intensivist

What Can You Do With a pain management Degree?

Graduates with a degree in pain management commonly enter the following occupations:

Occupation	Job Growth	Median Salary	25th–75th Pctile
Hospitalists	0.8%	$114,577	$92,706–$136,447
Urologists	0.5%	$119,720	$95,790–$143,650
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians	14.6%	$117,397	$92,691–$142,104
Preventive Medicine Physicians	4.1%	$113,531	$88,973–$138,088
Allergists and Immunologists	5.0%	$110,883	$92,397–$129,368
Sports Medicine Physicians	2.7%	$115,792	$96,941–$134,644
Physicians, All Other	8.0%	$70,774	$56,131–$85,417

^{Job-growth = projected employment change for the parent occupation. Source: ONET / BLS Employment Projections.*}

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to pain management graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Post-doctoral training	54.7%
Doctoral degree	39.1%
First professional degree	3.2%
Bachelor’s degree	1.3%
Master’s degree	0.8%
High school diploma or equivalent	0.4%
Some college courses	0.2%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	0.2%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

How Much Do pain management Graduates Earn?

Federal data tracks median earnings of pain management graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. These numbers tend to grow steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$160,729
4 years	$166,630
5 years	$197,894

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $197,894 — roughly 23% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Is a Degree in pain management Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, pain management graduates earn a median of $166,630 four years after completion — roughly 338% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Medical Clinical Sciences/Graduate Medical Studies	1,163
Medical Science/Scientist	1,047
Clinical and Translational Science	79
Medical Clinical Sciences/Graduate Medical Studies, Other	33
Temporomandibular Disorders and Orofacial Pain	4
Tropical Medicine	—

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.