Meeting the international pain research community: a medical student perspective

Pain is a universal experience, one that all humans share. Yet sometimes, this survival mechanism derails, and pain becomes chronic. Chronic pain can affect up to one in three people in the UK, with these people gaining access to pain clinics and other services through primary care.

Oxford’s graduate-entry medicine degree is unique as it facilitates students to conduct original research as part of the programme. Having completed a PhD, I was excited to get back into research. However, pain was a new topic for me, as was the field of evidence-based medicine. Working with Dr Georgia Richards in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, I was supported to present my research, on the mortality of people with chronic pain, at an international conference.

In August 2024, I attended and presented at the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) World Congress on Pain in Amsterdam. As a PhD student, I attended international conferences, but not one as vast as this event. IASP’s conference brought together physicians, researchers, psychologists, physiotherapists, nurses, and industrial stakeholders into a melting pot of data and ideas. There were Nobel laureates presenting in the large auditorium on the molecular mechanisms of pain and early career researchers discussing the relationship between chronic pain and trauma.

My systematic review, which is available as a pre-print and is under peer review, on the mortality of people with chronic pain, found that those with chronic pain have a greater risk of death, and one of the driving risk factors were the use of opioids. Research on benefits and harms of opioids was prevalent at the IASP 2024 conference. Through attending various sessions, I started to see a future where we don’t use opioids to treat certain types of pain, which could potentially save many lives by reducing the mortality rates my research has found.

Engaging with this diverse research community and receiving preliminary peer review was invaluable. Not only did I have interesting discussions with colleagues on my work, but I also saw how my research fits into the wider body of research. Some of the connections made in Amsterdam will shape the next directions of my research with Dr Richards. Moreover, meeting academic clinicians in the field was useful in planning how to balance clinical commitments with research in my career.

This experience would not have been possible without the support of the Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences, which provided the funding for my travel to the conference. As a medical student, I am grateful to have attended this conference, and I am excited about future opportunities to discuss my research. I encourage other medical students to participate in research and explore the possibility of disseminating their work at international conferences.