title: Moving toward interdisciplinary pain management.
abstract: Pain is an unpleasant and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. The current method of caring for a person with multiple issues and problems is a "multidisciplinary" approach; however, the disadvantages of a multidisciplinary approach are many. A more desirable alternative is an "interdisciplinary" approach. Interdisciplinary care is predicated on professionals communicating with one another about a single patient and designing care that is in the overall best interest of the patient. This paper describes the formation of the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management, whose objective is to promote the interdisciplinary approach to animal pain management.
authors.affiliation: Windsor Veterinary Clinic, Windsor, Colorado 80550, USA.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Downing
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D010346:Patient Care Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014730:Veterinary Medicine / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards