Steve Agocs, DC, assistant dean of chiropractic education at Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC), was accepted to the summer 2024 Fellowship in Pain Sciences, through Evidence in Motion (EIM).
The two-year program, a CUKC press release noted, focuses on interdisciplinary models of pain care, with an emphasis on first-in-class, non-pharmacological options for people suffering with complex and chronic pain. The new cohort will commence on July 8.
According to the EIM website, participants will “gain exceptional understanding of pain mechanisms and their impact on the pain experience, and enhance their clinical decision making through thorough consideration of bio-psycho-social factors.” The hybrid program blends online and hands-on instruction, which allows clinicians to pursue the training without disrupting their professional lives.
Agocs began attending postgraduate seminars on pain neuroscience in 2016. He completed EIM’s Therapeutic Neuroscience Education course, and in 2022, he earned EIM’s Therapeutic Pain Specialist certification in conjunction with Purdue University. This fellowship provides yet another opportunity for professional development, and is the final step offered by EIM in their pain sciences training.
The study that Agocs has already done in this area has served him well, as he has been able to educate his students and peers. The completion of this fellowship will only deepen the knowledge he has to share.
“These courses have led to opportunities to hold numerous workshops for students, and also teach pain science at the postgraduate level through CUKC’s ACE event, and through state chiropractic associations,” Agocs said. “The information dovetails perfectly with chiropractic, so chiropractors and students see a lot of benefit. On the day-to-day, most of my patients at KC CARE Health Center are long-term, ongoing pain patients with complex presentations, and my postgraduate pain education has allowed me to help them on another level.”
Agocs has spent nearly a decade on a path of continual discovery about pain, and how it can be alleviated. His belief is that treating pain could be more successful if it was better understood. This fellowship will focus on advanced applications of pain science to assist complex patients, coordination of care with interdisciplinary teams, as well as educating others about the pain sciences.
“Healthcare providers in this country have all the tools to deal with pain that we could possibly want, it’s just a matter of using them properly, beginning with changing our understanding of pain and, therefore, patients’ understanding of it,” Agocs said. “For me, the most exciting prospect is teaching this to other chiropractors, or like-minded healthcare practitioners, so they can take the reins and change our society’s relationship with pain so people can live more fulfilling lives.”
It’s been said that learning should be a lifetime pursuit, and Agocs takes that seriously. He has always enjoyed postgraduate seminars and training sessions, and tries to stay current on literature that pertains to his profession in the treatment room and the classroom.
“I’ve been a chiropractor for 24 years, and I feel like I have as much to learn today as I did the first day of practice,” Agocs said. “So something that I know directly applies to patient care, pain, which everyone experiences, it’s easy to see the value. And the more I know as a teacher, across the board, the better my teaching can be. The more I know about a subject, the better I am to teach it to others and get them started.”
The Fellowship in Pain Science is part of that ongoing learning commitment for Agocs, and he is eager to bring new information back to the chiropractic community at CUKC. He believes that chiropractic will soon experience an expanded role in the healthcare landscape. His participation in the fellowship will serve him well as he prepares students for the future of their profession.
“Chiropractors are poised to have the greatest potential to be a “first stop” for many of these patients, and while complex cases require interdisciplinary approaches to treatment, chiropractors can and should be coordinating and managing that care,” Agocs said. “My personal vision would be a series of required courses and/or electives that Cleveland students can take that gets them firmly in this mindset and teaches them the tools required to apply this science with patients, how to communicate with other providers, etc., and open up more opportunities for more new graduates than I ever had.”
Agocs has been a member of the CUKC faculty since 2007.
