Our curriculum is designed to balance rigorous clinical training with scholarly activity and work-life balance. The schedule is optimized for the best educational experience, blending core rotations with elective opportunities to tailor your training.

Required core rotations

• Continuity Clinic (CCL): Roughly 25 full days of clinic throughout the year to build longitudinal patient relationships
• Fluoroscopic Suite: Up to 7–8 weeks of focused procedural training spread across the academic year, guided by experienced faculty and supported by dedicated pain radiology technologists, with progressive autonomy as the year advances.
• Inpatient Pain Service/Call: Approximately 1 in every 6 weeks, the fellow serves as a subconsultant on a multidisciplinary team managing complex pain cases, including post-operative and cancer pain. Responsibilities include triaging and managing daytime consults and after-hours home call.
• Palliative Care: 1 week dedicated rotation in the outpatient palliative medicine clinic
• Pain Rehabilitation Center: 1 week focused on functional restoration and behavioral health in complex pain patients.
• Anatomy Lab/Simulation Center: 1 week dedicated to hands-on cadaveric-based advanced surgical, procedural and simulation sessions.

Elective opportunities

Customize your experience with rotations in but not limited to:

• Chiropractor/Myofascial release
• Headache Clinic
• Hospice
• Interventional Radiology to get exposure to Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty
• Mayo Clinic Health System (community pain practice experience at satellite campuses in Red Wing and Mankato, Minnesota)
• Pelvic Pain Clinic
• Pediatric Pain Clinic
• Research
• Spine Center

Didactics and skills mastery

We emphasize continuous learning through a robust didactic program.

• Orientation Boot Camp: Dedicated, interactive, educational sessions at the beginning of the academic year designed to master the fundamental concepts of pain medicine. Incoming fellows are also provided with educational and procedural materials prior to their start date to help with a smooth transition into the fellowship.
• Weekly Didactic Conferences: Covering a variety of topics from internal and invited faculty, journal clubs, and morbidity & mortality (M&M) reviews.
• Advanced Interventional Practice Meetings: Opportunity for the Pain division to discuss unique and challenging cases.
• Problem-Based Learning Sessions: Interactive sessions with just fellows and one faculty to review pain concepts using unique cases spread out over the academic year.
• Structured Skills Assessment: Regular evaluations of surgical skills, ultrasound proficiency, physical exam techniques, and communication skills.
• Simulation Center: Access to our world-class simulation center for procedural mastery.
• Global Health: Unique collaboration featuring virtual lectures with a residency program in Kijabe, Kenya.
• Life Skills Sessions: Our fellows get the opportunity to learn important life skills such as financial literacy, contract negotiation, billing and coding, and fellowship alumni touch points.

Intervention options

Neuromodulation

• Peripheral Nerve Stimulation: trial and permanent implantation
• DRG Stimulation: trial and permanent implantation
• Dorsal Column SCS: trial and permanent implantation and Programming
• Restorative Neurostimulation
• Intrathecal pump trial and pump implant

Minimal spine surgery

• Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression (MILD)
• Basivertebral Nerve Ablation

Neuraxial procedures

• Epidural steroid injection: caudal, lumbar, thoracic, and cervical
• Epidural blood patches
• Medial Branch Nerves Blocks
• Sympathetic nerve block
• Ganglion Impar
• Superior hypogastric nerve plexus block
• Lumbar Sympathetic nerve block
• Celiac plexus block
• Stellate ganglion nerve block
• Sphenopalatine Ganglion block
• Bursa Injection
• Radiofrequency ablation of shoulder, knee, and hip
• Spine Joint Procedure
• Facet Joint injection
• Radiofrequency Ablation: medial branches of cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and lateral branches of the SI joint
• Targeted Drug Delivery Therapy
• Intrathecal pump test doses
• Intrathecal pump implant
• Extremity and truncal nerve blocks
• Occipital nerve blocks
• Trigeminal nerve block
• Suprascapular nerve block
• Intercostal nerve block PEC I/II block
• TAP Block
• Erector Spinae Plane Block
• Ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric nerve block
• Genitofemoral nerve block
• Lateral femoral cutaneous nerve block
• Myofascial blocks
• Scrambler Therapy
• Topical 8% capsaicin (Qutenza)