Member May 2026: Matching into a Pain Fellowship: The Tools Needed for Success-Session Recording

Video Transcription

Video Summary

This member community session focused on how to apply successfully for pain medicine fellowships, especially for PM&R trainees. Three Loyola physicians—Drs. Krimpreet Bajaj, Adam Hintz, and Louis Solis—shared their backgrounds, why they chose pain medicine, and practical advice for residents.<br /><br />Key themes included the importance of mentorship, networking, and showing genuine interest in pain throughout training. They recommended seeking a strong mentor, getting involved in pain-related research or case reports, joining pain societies, attending conferences, and building relationships with program coordinators and faculty. They emphasized that strong applicants are not only procedurally capable but also reliable, teachable, hardworking, and easy to work with.<br /><br />The panel compared ACGME and non-ACGME fellowships. They noted that ACGME programs are more standardized, often preferred for academic careers, and may open more doors in larger institutions, while non-ACGME programs can offer excellent procedural exposure, especially in private practice settings.<br /><br />They also advised applicants to use electives or rotations at programs of interest as an “extended interview” and to prepare well by studying procedural anatomy and fluoroscopic technique. Recommended resources included Atlas of Interventional Spine Procedures by Furman and IPSIS guidelines.<br /><br />Finally, the physicians reflected on career satisfaction, noting that pain medicine offered them work-life balance, procedural variety, meaningful patient impact, and opportunities in both academic and private practice settings.

Keywords

pain medicine fellowship

PM&R trainees

mentorship

networking

ACGME fellowships

non-ACGME fellowships

pain societies

research involvement

procedural anatomy

fluoroscopic technique

career satisfaction