The American Academy of Pain Management (AAPM), which purports to be the largest multidisciplinary pain society and largest physician-based pain society in the U.S., will award Chester Wilk,DC, its highest honor, the "Janet Travell,MD, Soft Tissue Pain Management" award during a September 6 luncheon. The luncheon is part of the AAPM's 12th annual clinical meeting, "Pain Management: A Challenge for the New Millennium" in Arlington, Virginia September 6-9.
Dr. Wilk will address the conferees on Saturday, September 8, with a speech titled "Politics and the Role of Chiropractic"
The award is named in honor of Dr. Travell, a 1929 Cornell Medical School graduate who was the personal physician to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson (see DC, September 22 and October 20, 1997 or www.chiroweb.com). She was a pioneer in trigger-point identification and release, and authored Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction, a definitive two-volume work.
Dr. Scott Denny, president of the AAPM Board of Directors, recognized Dr. Wilk as a "living legend, and well known for his part in the historic antitrust lawsuit and work to integrate all disciplines for better patient care." Dr. Wilk was, of course, a plaintiff in the landmark Wilk et al., vs. the AMA et al., case, which took 15 years to litigate and resulted in the court declaring that the AMA had engaged in a nationwide boycott of doctors of chiropractic by declaring it unethical for MDs to associate professionally with chiropractors.
Dr. Wilk said he was honored by the recognition, and looked forward to speaking to the assembly. "The AAPM represents the kind of interprofessional cooperation that can make a major difference in the therapeutic superiority, safety, cost-effectiveness and overall quality of our health care system," he said.
The AAPM is a nonprofit multidisciplinary credentialing society providing credentialing to practitioners in the area of pain management, and holds full voting membership in the National Organization of Competency Assurance.
Dr. Denny, on behalf of the AAPM, invited Dr. Wilk's colleagues to honor him with their attendance at the meeting. For more information, contact the AAPM at 209-533-9744, or go to www.aapainmanage.org/.
