Working at the Veteran's Administration in a Pain and Substance Use Clinic, Kathleen Marian Farrell DO works remotely for the San Antonio VA. Before becoming an Osteopathic Physician, she worked for several non-profit organizations that served people who were on substances of concern. She graduated from the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2002. Her concern for those who use substances continued when she got out of residency in 2005 and she started using Buprenorphine in her practice in 2006. Her first practice was in Idaho with Valley Family Health Care, a Federally Qualified Health Center where she did inpatient and outpatient care. She later moved to Sequim, Washington to work for the Jamestown S'kallam Tribe. She started working for the Veteran's Administration in 2015 starting in primary care. Due to her experience transitioning patients from full-agonist opioids to buprenorphine, she was hired into the Pain Clinic at VA in American Lakes in Tacoma, WA and currently works remotely for the San Antonio VA in a Pain/Substance Use Clinic.
Her practice has gone through many changes as we have learned more about the use of substances and how they change the lives of our patients. Treatment of those who are on concerning substances for chronic pain or other reasons can be challanging for any provider. Yet, chornic pain is one of the main reasons patients seek medical care. We must continue to find ways to treat these patients with compassion.
Dr. Farrell has been able to retain 80-90% of her pain patients in two different pain clinics. Using Buprenorphine has been huge asset in her practice. She has been using it long enough to witness many of her patients come off of Buprenorphine without craving opioids. These patient continue to live fulfilling lives which is her goal in treating this population.
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De-stress Pain Management Case Forum
Thursday, April 4, 2024
9:45 AM – 11:15 AM CT