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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2024/2025

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Deanery of Clinical Sciences : Pain Management

Postgraduate Course: Clinical Management of Headache Disorders (PAMA11065)

Course Outline
SchoolDeanery of Clinical Sciences CollegeCollege of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)
Course typeOnline Distance Learning AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryHeadache is a global burden

Despite the number of different headache disorders, and the impact they have on society globally, headache is poorly represented in both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education.
A focus on providing education at the primary care level is likely to be the critical step in improving the fortunes of sufferers. The objective of this course is to offer a high quality educational solution. It is hoped that those taking the course will become foci not only for better patient diagnosis and management of headache disorders, but also for teaching and advocacy.
Course description Section 1: Understanding the Burden. Explore the prevalence and impact of headache disorders, emphasising the need for improved patient care and support. Objectives:
1. Understand headache prevalence.
2. Recognise the individual and societal burden of headache disorders.
3. Advocate for improved services and support for sufferers.
Section 2: Diagnosis and Classification. Learn to accurately diagnose primary and secondary headache disorders, enabling effective management strategies. Objectives:
1. Differentiate between headache types.
2. Recognise features of common headache subtypes.
3. Utilise diagnostic tools for quick identification.
4. Understand chronic headache guidelines.
Section 3: Treatment Strategies. Discover effective treatment options for common headaches and learn to adapt management approaches over time. Objectives:
1. Identify treatment options for various headache types.
2. Acknowledge the evolving nature of treatment needs.
3. Learn to assess treatment efficacy and adjust management accordingly.
4. Understand evidence-based practice in headache management.
Section 4: Comprehensive Management. Explore holistic management approaches, including lifestyle adjustments and collaboration with other healthcare professionals. Objectives:
1. Expand management beyond pharmaceuticals.
2. Consider various factors contributing to headache presentations.
3. Recognise the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration.
4. Adapt management strategies to evolving patient needs.
Section 5: Managing Chronic Migraine. Focus on diagnosing and managing chronic migraine, emphasising the impact on individuals and society. Objectives:
1. Diagnose chronic migraine.
2. Understand the societal impact of chronic migraine.
3. Identify and address medication overuse.
4. Explore advanced treatment options, such as Botox and monoclonal antibodies.
By completing this course, participants will develop the skills and knowledge necessary to become advocates for headache sufferers and contribute to improved patient care outcomes.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed Pain - A Multidimensional Phenomenon (PAMA11067) AND Assessment, Measurement and the Multidisciplinary Approach (PAMA11054) AND Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology and its Relevance to Pain Management (PAMA11055) AND Understanding the Pharmacological Management of Pain (PAMA11068) AND Non-Pharmacological Approaches to Pain Management (PAMA11057) AND Introduction to Pain Management in Practice (PAMA11070)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesThe minimum entry requirement is a UK 2:1 undergraduate degree, or its international equivalent.

Relevant disciplines include: medicine; nursing; dentistry; psychology; occupational therapy; physiotherapy; pharmacology; osteopathy; other allied health care profession involved in the management of pain.

Applications from those with non-university professional qualifications such as RGN with appropriate clinical experience will be considered on an individual basis.

Where applicable, you will also be required to meet any language requirements in accordance with the University's regulations.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start MVM Online Learning Block 2
Course Start Date 06/01/2025
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 10, Online Activities 30, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 6, Formative Assessment Hours 10, Summative Assessment Hours 60, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 80 )
Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) 80
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 100% fully online coursework
Assessment and Feedback in this course is covered by the University of Edinburgh Assessment and Feedback Principles and Priorities.
Key principles that will underpin assessment activities are evidence-based practice and the application of theory to clinical practice.
Assessment will consist of the following:
Assessment 1: Case Study Analysis, 2500 word written assignment 50% (5 x 10%)
Assessment 2: Submission of a 2500 word written essay 50%

You are required to complete and receive a passing grade in the assessments in order to obtain a passing grade for this course. If you fail to make a reasonable attempt at any of the assignments, you risk a failing grade for the course which would normally have serious repercussions in your ability to achieve an award.

Feedback Assessment and Feedback in this course is covered by the University of Edinburgh Assessment and Feedback Principles and Priorities
Throughout your studies, you will receive regular feedback on your work. This helps to maximise the effectiveness of learning and teaching and enhances your performance. Feedback can be any comment from another person that may result in improving your learning and understanding. It is important to remember that feedback is not always in written form on a marked piece of work. Whilst feedback can take this form, the majority of feedback you will receive during your university career is not associated with a mark.
Feedback is provided on all items of in-course assessment, both summative and formative. Formative feedback may take the form of group feedback where only salient points for the whole group are provided.
When marked work is returned to you, it is your responsibility to read and think about the feedback given and not just look at the mark. The feedback gives you an indication of what you did well, what you misunderstood and what you did not address correctly. If you have any questions, please contact the named Course Organiser.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Understand and discuss with other healthcare professionals and patients the prevalence of headache types, the direct and indirect costs of headache, and act as an advocate for sufferers who require better services and better support and understanding across work, chores and social activities, as well as from social care.
  2. Demonstrate a critical undertraining and recognition of the common primary and secondary headache disorders and be able to formulate, and discuss as part of an interprofessional student group, the rationale for patient-centred management.
  3. Utilise evidence-based diagnosis and management tools to quickly identify different headache subtypes and recognise the features of episodic and chronic headaches according to internationally accepted guidelines.
  4. Apply methods to understand the evidence in clinical trials and how the evidence affects guidelines, treatment options, and personal practice in primary care that recognises and identifies a wide range of factors that can contribute to a presentation, and understand that bespoke management is most likely to succeed.
  5. Develop and apply skills related to academia, professional reflection and critical analysis of the literature, to evaluate current practices in headache management and continue to use these skills as a lifelong learner.
Reading List
A Resource List will be provided to ensure access to appropriate and relevant resources to enable participation in this course. Details about Resource Lists can be found at https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/research-teaching-staff/resource-lists/information-for-students

Resource material will be provided to enhance each week¿s material. Examples of the variety of materials used can be seen below ¿ please note this is indicative of will be provided:

OLESEN, J. (2018) HEADACHE CLASSIFICATION COMMITTEE OF THE INTERNATIONAL HEADACHE SOCIETY (IHS) THE INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF HEADACHE DISORDERS, 3RD EDITION. CEPHALALGIA¿: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEADACHE. 38 (1), 1¿211. DOI:10.1177/0333102417738202.

PRAKASH, S. (2018) THE INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF HEADACHE DISORDERS: ANYTHING NEW IN 3 RD EDITION? JOURNAL OF INTEGRATED HEALTH SCIENCES. 6 (1), 1¿2. DOI:10.4103/JIHS.JIHS_11_18.

DAVIES, P.T.., LANE, R.J.., ASTBURY, T., FONTEBASSO, M., MURPHY, J. & MATHARU, M. (2018) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD: THE JOURNEY TAKEN BY HEADACHE SUFFERERS IN SEARCH OF HELP. PRIMARY HEALTH CARE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT. 20, E4¿E4. DOI:10.1017/S1463423618000324.

IHS CLASSIFICATION ICHD-3 (2021) THE INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF HEADACHE DISORDERS 3RD EDITION. 2021. HTTPS://ICHD-3.ORG/.

STOVNER, L.J., HAGEN, K., LINDE, M. & STEINER, T.J. (2022) THE GLOBAL PREVALENCE OF HEADACHE: AN UPDATE, WITH ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCES OF METHODOLOGICAL FACTORS ON PREVALENCE ESTIMATES. JOURNAL OF HEADACHE AND PAIN. 23 (1), 34¿34. DOI:10.1186/S10194-022-01402-2.

DODICK, D.W. (2018) A PHASE¿BY¿PHASE REVIEW OF MIGRAINE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY. HEADACHE. 58 (S1), 4¿16. DOI:10.1111/HEAD.13300.

STEINER, T.J. & STOVNER, L.J. (2019) SOCIETAL IMPACT OF HEADACHE¿: BURDEN, COSTS AND RESPONSE. 1ST ED. 2019.. CHAM, SWITZERLAND, SPRINGER.

RIZZOLI, P. & MULLALLY, W.J. (2018) HEADACHE. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE. 131 (1), 17¿24. DOI:10.1016/J.AMJMED.2017.09.005.

DODICK, D. (2003) CLINICAL CLUES AND CLINICAL RULES: PRIMARY VS SECONDARY HEADACHE. ADVANCED STUDIES IN MEDICINE. 3 (6C), S550¿S555.

CITTADINI, E. & GOADSBY, P.J. (2010) HEMICRANIA CONTINUA: A CLINICAL STUDY OF 39 PATIENTS WITH DIAGNOSTIC IMPLICATIONS. BRAIN. 133 (7), 1973¿1986. DOI:10.1093/BRAIN/AWQ137.

COHEN, A. (2007) SHORT-LASTING UNILATERAL NEURALGIFORM HEADACHE ATTACKS WITH CONJUNCTIVAL INJECTION AND TEARING. CEPHALALGIA. 27 (7), 824¿832. DOI:10.1111/J.1468-2982.2007.01352.X.

BIGAL, M.E. & LIPTON, R.B. (2007) THE DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS OF CHRONIC DAILY HEADACHES: AN ALGORITHM-BASED APPROACH. THE JOURNAL OF HEADACHE AND PAIN. 8 (5), 263¿272. DOI:10.1007/S10194-007-0418-3.

LIPTON, R.B., DODICK, D., SADOVSKY, R., KOLODNER, K., ENDICOTT, J., HETTIARACHCHI, J. & HARRISON, W. (2003) A SELF-ADMINISTERED SCREENER FOR MIGRAINE IN PRIMARY CARE: THE ID MIGRAINETM VALIDATION STUDY. NEUROLOGY. 61 (3), 375¿382. DOI:10.1212/01.WNL.0000078940.53438.83.

STEWART, W.F., LIPTON, R.B., WHYTE, J., DOWSON, A., KOLODNER, K., LIBERMAN, J.N. & SAWYER, J. (1999) AN INTERNATIONAL STUDY TO ASSESS RELIABILITY OF THE MIGRAINE DISABILITY ASSESSMENT (MIDAS) SCORE. NEUROLOGY. 53 (5), 988¿988. DOI:10.1212/WNL.53.5.988.

M. KOSINSKI, M. S. BAYLISS, J. B. BJORNER, J. E. WARE, J., W. H. GARBER, A. BATENHORST, R. CADY, C. G. H. DAHLÖF, A. DOWSON & S. TEPPER (2003) A SIX-ITEM SHORT-FORM SURVEY FOR MEASURING HEADACHE IMPACT: THE HIT-6. QUALITY OF LIFE RESEARCH. 12 (8), 963¿974. DOI:10.1023/A:1026119331193.

MOORE, R.., DERRY, S., STRAUBE, S., IRESON¿PAINE, J. & WIFFEN, P.. (2015) VALIDATING SPEED OF ONSET AS A KEY COMPONENT OF GOOD ANALGESIC RESPONSE IN ACUTE PAIN. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PAIN. (2), 187¿192. DOI:10.1002/EJP.536.

CADY, R.K., BORCHERT, L.D., SPALDING, W., HART, C.C. & SHEFTELL, F.D. (2004) SIMPLE AND EFFICIENT RECOGNITION OF MIGRAINE WITH 3¿QUESTION HEADACHE SCREEN. HEADACHE: THE JOURNAL OF HEAD AND FACE PAIN. 44 (4), 323¿327. DOI:10.1111/J.1526-4610.2004.04075.X.

MOORE, A.R., DERRY, S., STRAUBE, S., IRESON-PAINE, J. & WIFFEN, P.J. (2014) FASTER, HIGHER, STRONGER? EVIDENCE FOR FORMULATION AND EFFICACY FOR IBUPROFEN IN ACUTE PAIN. PAIN (AMSTERDAM). (1), 14¿21. DOI:10.1016/J.PAIN.2013.08.013.

LIPTON, R.B., STEWART, W.F., CADY, R., HALL, C., O, APOS, QUINN, S., KUHN, T. & GUTTERMAN, D. (2000) SUMATRIPTAN FOR THE RANGE OF HEADACHES IN MIGRAINE SUFFERERS: RESULTS OF THE SPECTRUM STUDY. HEADACHE. 40 (10), 783¿791. DOI:10.1046/J.1526-4610.2000.00143.X.

TANNER, T., ASPLEY, S., MUNN, A. & THOMAS, T. (2010) THE PHARMACOKINETIC PROFILE OF A NOVEL FIXED-DOSE COMBINATION TABLET OF IBUPROFEN AND PARACETAMOL. BMC CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY. (1), 10¿10. DOI:10.1186/1472-6904-10-10.

TEPPER, S.J., ZATOCHILL, M., SZETO, M., SHEFTELL, F., TEPPER, D.E. & BIGAL, M. (2008) DEVELOPMENT OF A SIMPLE MENSTRUAL MIGRAINE SCREENING TOOL FOR OBSTETRIC AND GYNECOLOGY CLINICS: THE MENSTRUAL MIGRAINE ASSESSMENT TOOL. HEADACHE: THE JOURNAL OF HEAD AND FACE PAIN. 48 (10), 1419¿1425. DOI:10.1111/J.1526-4610.2008.01304.X.

VINCENT, M.B. (2010) CERVICOGENIC HEADACHE: A REVIEW COMPARISON WITH MIGRAINE, TENSION-TYPE HEADACHE, AND WHIPLASH. CURRENT PAIN AND HEADACHE REPORTS. 14 (3), 238¿243. DOI:10.1007/S11916-010-0114-X.

OLESEN, J. (1991) CLINICAL AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS IN MIGRAINE AND TENSION-TYPE HEADACHE EXPLAINED BY INTEGRATION OF VASCULAR, SUPRASPINAL AND MYOFASCIAL INPUTS. PAIN (AMSTERDAM). 46 (2), 125¿132. DOI:10.1016/0304-3959(91)90066-7.

DURHAM, P.L. & CADY, R. (2011) INSIGHTS INTO THE MECHANISM OF ONABOTULINUMTOXINA IN CHRONIC MIGRAINE. HEADACHE. 51 (10), 1573¿1577. DOI:10.1111/J.1526-4610.2011.02022.X.

SHEVEL, E. & SPIERINGS, E.H. (2004) CERVICAL MUSCLES IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF MIGRAINE HEADACHE. JOURNAL OF HEADACHE AND PAIN. 5 (1), 12¿14. DOI:10.1007/S10194-004-0062-0.

SKLJAREVSKI, V., OAKES, T.M., ZHANG, Q., FERGUSON, M.B., MARTINEZ, J., CAMPOREALE, A., JOHNSON, K.W., SHAN, Q., CARTER, J., SCHACHT, A., GOADSBY, P.J. & DODICK, D.W. (2017) EFFECT OF DIFFERENT DOSES OF GALCANEZUMAB VS PLACEBO FOR EPISODIC MIGRAINE PREVENTION: A RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL. JAMA NEUROLOGY. 75 (2), 187¿193. DOI:10.1001/JAMANEUROL.2017.3859.

DYER, O. (2018) US APPROVES FIRST MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY TO PREVENT MIGRAINES. BMJ (ONLINE). 361, K2228¿K2228. DOI:10.1136/BMJ.K2228.

HERSHEY, A.D. (2017) CGRP ¿ THE NEXT FRONTIER FOR MIGRAINE. THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE. 377 (22), 2190¿2191. DOI:10.1056/NEJME1712559.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills During the course students will have to demonstrate the ability to work both independently and collaboratively with others. Their knowledge and understanding of the topic will improve but they will also learn generic approaches/skills. As the course is distance learning, it will contribute to their IT, writing and communication skills which can be applied to both clinical and academic environments. Finally, they will be expected to be able to bring together and draw from the information provided through the course during their assignment writing. Competences such as structuring of work and accurate referencing should also improve.
KeywordsHeadache,migraine,tension-type,neurology,medicine,primary care
Contacts
Course organiserDr Christopher McKenzie
Tel: 0131 242 6130
Email: Christopher.McKenzie@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Ewelina Skala
Tel: (0131 5)37 1000
Email: eskala2@exseed.ed.ac.uk
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