At IPCA we are committed to training practicing clinicians and the next generation of medical professionals.  Since 2002 IPCA has offered one month clinical rotations to senior pharmacy students, and 1-5 day rotations to junior students.  

Our clinical staff are proud to have clinical teaching appointments as Experiential Faculty at the UA College of Pharmacy.  We believe that IPCA offers the finest pain medicine rotation available to pharmacy students, anywhere.  We are able to back this claim up with results, we have been able to demonstrate that the 1 month clinical rotation for University of Arizona Pharmacy students is an educational success using the KnowPain-50, a validated standardized testing on pain medicine knowledge and skills.

Mean score of 8 UA Pharm Student's on the Pre-test (KnowPain-50) before IPCA rotation: 164/250     

Mean score of the same 8 UA Pharm Student's Post-test (Know-Pain-50) after IPCA rotation:   213/250    

    Standard Deviation Pharm Student Pre-test                                              10

    Standard Deviation Pharm Student Post-test                                            15

    Two tailed t-test p value pre vs post test =                                          0.0003

    Average KnowPain-50 score for a practicing primary care physiian   139

1 month senior rotation summary: The 1 month rotation experience will expose the student to all aspects of an interdisciplinary medical practice devoted to personalized, patient-centered evaluation and treatment of acute and chronic painful illnesses such as acute disc herniation/sciatica, herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia, diabetic neuropathy, headache disorders, back pain, nerve injury, and more.  The overall goal of the rotation is to familiarize the student with the pathology and physiology of these disorders, concepts of what is causing the pain, diagnosis methods, medical/procedural/surgical management principles, the role of behavioral medicine and physical rehabilitation in evaluation and treatment, and to provide in depth learning in pharmacotherapy for pain. Students are expected to investigate and help craft one pharmacotherapy patient education document.  Students are familiarized with systemic and local barriers to effective evaluation and treatment of pain.

There are several educational strategies employed.  Students shadow providers in several disciplines; in weeks 2-4 are students are expected to participate actively in medication follow up visits.  Students attend mutidisciplinary rounds on Friday mornings.  In addition, students complete an on-line didactic course which is heavily weighted toward pharmacotherapy. 

Students are evaluated pre and post rotation using a validated tool developed to assess knowledge and beliefs in relation to Pain Management, the KnowPain-50.

Junior student rotation: Junior students may spend 1-5 days shadowing IPCA providers to gain a sense of how painful illness is evaluated and treated in an interdisciplinary setting.

Course Director: Kathy Davis, ANP-C

For more information, please contact the course secretary, Heather Froeschle, at 797-7246 x 135 or e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it