FNB Pain Medicine: Admissions, medical colleges, fees, eligibility criteria details

FNB Pain medicine or Fellow of National Board in Pain medicine also known as FNB in Pain Medicine is a doctoral fellowship program for doctors in India that is done by them after completion of their postgraduate medical degree course. The duration of the FNB course is for 2 years.

A pain Medicine Specialist is a physician with special training in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of all different types of pain. Pain Medicine Specialists use a broad-based approach to treat all pain disorders, ranging from pain as a symptom of disease to pain as the primary disease.

The pain management specialist plays an important role in coordinating additional care such as physical therapy, psychological therapy, and rehabilitation programs to offer patients a comprehensive treatment plan with a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of their pain.

The course is a full-time course pursued at various accredited institutes/hospitals across the country, the top hospital offering this fellowship is Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi.

Candidates can get admission to 2 years FNB course after successfully qualifying for the FET (Fellowship Entrance Test) examination which NBEMS conducts. FET is conducted annually as per the prescribed schedule. The merit-based counseling for admissions to the FNB Programme after the conduct of FET is administered by NBEMS.

The fee for pursuing FNB Pain medicine varies from accredited institute/hospital to hospital and is around Rs.1,25,000 per year.

After completion of their respective course, doctors can join the job market. Candidates can take reputed jobs at positions as research fellows, Senior residents, Consultants, etc. with an approximate salary range of Rs. 11 lakhs to Rs. 47 lakhs per year which varies according to experience.

The Nomenclature of the FNB qualification awarded by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences is “Fellow of National Board”. The FNB qualifications are recognized qualifications in terms of the Gazette notification dated 10th August 2016.

What is FNB in Pain medicine?

FNB in Pain medicine is a two-year doctoral fellowship program that candidates can pursue after completing a postgraduate degree.

The pain physician serves as a consultant to other physicians and is the principal treating physician and may provide care at various levels, such as treating the patient directly, prescribing medication, prescribing rehabilitative services, performing pain relieving procedures, counseling patients and families, directing a multidisciplinary team, coordinating care with other health care providers and providing consultative services to public and private.

The National Board of Examinations (NBE) has released a curriculum for FNB Pain medicine.

The curriculum governs the education and training of FNB Pain medicine.

The Pain Medicine fellowship will enable the candidate to o offer integrated, coordinated, holistic assessment and management of chronic pain using unique knowledge and skills to deliver comprehensive, chronic pain patient-centered care.

At the completion of the course, the trainee should be able to provide comprehensive care for all these problems, offer appropriate counseling, diagnosis, and treatment, and establish a Pain medicine Centre or provide comprehensive Pain medicine services to an assisted reproduction center.

Course Highlights

Here are some of the course highlights of FNB Pain medicine

Name of Course	FNB Pain medicine
Level	Fellowship
Duration of Course	Two years
Course Mode	Full Time
Minimum Academic Requirement	Candidates must have a postgraduate medical Degree in DNB/MD Anaesthesia obtained from any college/university recognized by the Medical Council of India (Now NMC)/NBE. The feeder qualification mentioned here is as of 2022. For any further changes to the prerequisite requirement please refer to the NBE website
Admission Process / Entrance Process / Entrance Modalities	Entrance Exam (FET) Merit-based counseling administered by NBEMS
Course Fees	Rs.1,25,000 per year
Average Salary	Rs. 11 lakhs to Rs.47 lakhs per year

Eligibility Criteria

The eligibility criteria for FNB in Pain Medicine are defined as the set of rules or minimum prerequisites that aspirants must meet in order to be eligible for admission, which include:

Name of Fellowship course	Course Type	Prior Eligibility Requirement
Pain medicine	FNB	DNB/MD Anaesthesia

Note:

The admission process contains a few steps to be followed in order for the candidates for admission to FNB. Candidates can view the complete admission process for FNB Pain medicine mentioned below:

• FET is a qualifying-cum-ranking examination for admission to Fellow of National Board (FNB)/Fellow of National Board - Post Doctoral (FNB-PD) courses.
• The selection of a student will be through an MCQ-based examination namely Fellowship Entrance Test.
• A student can apply for the fellowship courses for which his/her broad or super specialty qualification/ equivalent qualification is eligible, at the time of online submission of the application form.
• The total duration of the question paper will be 105 minutes (Part A - 45 minutes and Part B - 60 minutes).
• QUALIFYING CRITERIA: Students who obtain a minimum of 50th Percentile in their respective question paper/specialty shall be declared as “Qualified”.
• NBEMS shall declare a specialty-wise merit list i.e., there will be a separate merit list for each fellowship course. There shall not be any equating/scaling and normalization. The merit shall be generated strictly on the basis of marks obtained by the student and application of the prescribed tie-breaking criteria.
• The admission to Fellowship courses in the accredited hospitals shall be undertaken solely on the basis of merit-based counseling conducted by NBEMS.
• Documents required to be produced at the time of counseling: MBBS Degree Certificate and MD/MS/DNB/DM/MCh/DrNB Degree Certificate/Provisional Pass Certificate of eligible Post Graduate Medical Qualification issued.

Fees Structure

The fee structure for FNB Pain medicine varies from accredited institute/hospital to hospital. The fee is generally less for Government Institutes and more for private institutes. The average fee structure for FNB Pain medicine is around Rs.1,25,000 per year.

Colleges offering FNB Pain medicine 

Various accredited institutes/hospitals across India offer courses for pursuing FNB Pain Medicine.

As per the National Board of Examinations website, the following accredited institutes/hospitals are offering DrNB FNB (Pain Medicine) courses for the academic year 2022-23.

FNB in Pain medicine is a two years specialization course that provides training in the stream of Pain medicine.

The course content for FNB Pain medicine is given in the NBE Curriculum released by the National Board of Examinations, which can be assessed through the link mentioned below:

1. Epidemiology:

Incidence, prevalence, and magnitude of problems of chronic and cancer pain

2. Basic Sciences:

• Anatomy and Physiology

• Peripheral Mechanism

• Central Mechanism

• Pain Modulation

• Pain Measurement

• Pharmacology of pain transmission and modulation

• Peripheral Mechanism

• Synaptic transmission in the dorsal horn

• Central sensitization

• Neurotransmitters in pain modulation

• Psychosocial aspect of pain

• Definition and measurement of pain, Pain Scoring

• Individual differences

• Behavioural processes

• Emotional problems and psychiatric disorders associated with pain

3. General principles of pain evaluation

• Diagnosis; Clinical History, Patient Examination

• Investigation: Interpretation/ Relevance in reference to various Pain Syndromes

• Pharmacological management

• Interventional Pain Management.

Career Options

After completing FNB Pain medicine, candidates will get employment opportunities in Government and the Private sector.

In the Government sector, candidates have various options to choose from which include Junior research fellow, Teaching at academic medical centers, and Consultants.

While in the Private sector the options Fellow (Pain Medicine), Junior research fellow, Senior Research fellow (Pain Medicine), and Consultants.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) –FNB Pain Medicine Course/ FNB in Pain Medicine

•  Question: What is the full form of FNB?

Answer: The full form of FNB is Fellow of National board.

•  Question: What is an FNB Pain medicine?

Answer: FNB in Pain medicine or Fellow of National Board in Pain medicine is a doctoral fellowship program for doctors in India that they do after completion of their postgraduate medical degree course.

•  Question: What is the duration of FNB in Pain medicine?

Answer: FNB in Pain medicine is a doctoral fellowship program of two years.

• Question: What is the eligibility of FNB in Pain medicine?

Answer: The candidate must have a postgraduate medical Degree in DNB/MD Anaesthesia obtained from any college/university recognized by the Medical Council of India (Now NMC)/NBE., The feeder qualification mentioned here is as of 2022. For any further changes to the prerequisite requirement please refer to the NBE website.

• Question: What is the scope of FNB Pain medicine?

Answer: FNB Pain medicine offers candidates various employment opportunities and career prospects.

• Question: What is the average salary for FNB Pain medicine candidate?

Answer: The FNB Pain medicine candidate’s average salary is between Rs.11 lakhs to Rs. 47 lakhs per annum depending on the experience.

• Question: Can you teach after completing the FNB Pain medicine Course?

Answer: Yes, the candidate can teach in a medical college/hospital after completing the fellowship.