Pain Medicine ACGME case minimums
The ACGME writes 3 case minimums for Pain Medicine fellows into its Program Requirements, and the largest single minimum is 50. It publishes no Case Log categories for the specialty; each row below cites the requirement it comes from; the minimums are effective July 1, 2026.
By Chris, CA-1, anesthesiology
Pain Medicine minimums by category
| Category | Fellow has primary responsibility for the patient | Patient new to the fellow |
|---|---|---|
| Fellows must have primary responsibility for 50 different patients followed over at least two months. | 50 | — |
| This should include documented involvement with a minimum of 15 patients new to the fellow. | — | 15 |
| This should include documented involvement with a minimum of 50 patients new to the fellow. | — | 50 |
| Each fellow must have a distinct clinical experience in the following disciplines involved in pain medicine: anesthesiology, child neurology or neurology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and psychiatry. Fellows do not require an experience in their primary discipline. | — | — |
| Fellows must be provided with Cancer Pain Experience. | — | — |
| Fellows must be provided with Palliative Care Experience. | — | — |
| Fellows must demonstrate competence in performing interventional treatments, including: epidural injections, to include interlaminar, transforaminal, and caudal; trigger point injections; facet and medial branch blocks; neuroablative procedures; joint and bursa injections; sympathetic blocks; peripheral nerve blocks; and, understanding psychosocial risk factors that contraindicate permanent interventional procedures in patients with chronic pain. | — | — |
An em-dash means the ACGME publishes no minimum on that row — not a minimum of zero.
Pain Medicine · ACGME specialty 530 · minimums effective July 1, 2026.
Capnolog counts these live for anesthesiology and neurological surgery; other specialties are reference only.
What counts toward a minimum?
- The ACGME publishes no Case Log categories for Pain Medicine; its minimums are written into the Program Requirements.
- Each minimum is read in its own column: “Fellow has primary responsibility for the patient” and “Patient new to the fellow”.
- 4 rows carry no published number and show an em-dash, which is not a minimum of zero.
- The Review Committee for Anesthesiology sets these requirements.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Program Requirements, July 1, 2026
Capnolog is independent of the ACGME. Where a number here and the ACGME's own document disagree, the document is right.