A ring for pain physicians?

Let me tell you a very short story. Today in Quebec, Canada you can visit the Pont de Québec (The Quebec Bridge). It is a road, rail, and pedestrian bridge across the lower Saint Lawrence River between Sainte-Foy and Lévis. This construct has a long history; and a not very fortunate one…

29.08.1907 - The bridge collapsed during construction. Out?of the 86 workers on the bridge that day, 75 were killed and the rest were injured, making it the world's worst bridge construction disaster.

11.09.1916 - When the central span was being raised into position, the bridge fell into the river. Thirteen workers were killed.

Interestingly, in both instances, safety concerns had been raised long before both disasters took place, but they were never taken seriously in time.

A widespread myth related to this story is that the iron and steel from the collapsed bridge, which could not be reused for construction, were used to forge the early Iron Rings worn by graduates of Canadian engineering schools starting in 1925. The rings are presented to engineering graduates in a private ceremony called “the?Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer“. Actually,?the initial batch of Iron Rings was produced by?World War I?veterans at Christie Street Military Hospital in Toronto, Canada, but this is not important. What is really important is what these rings stand for.?Are they?a symbol of?qualification?as an engineer? No! There are plenty of licensing bodies for that! They symbolize the?pride?that engineers have in their profession, while simultaneously reminding them of their?humility?and?obligation to live by a high standard of professional conduct.?It is all about ethics.

I came across this infrastructure disaster story while I was preparing my presentation for an upcoming launch event in Istanbul, Turkey. It immediately caught my attention. Pain physicians have always been striving for excellence. All of us who are working with #chronicpain patients are implementing various approaches in our treatment plan (medications, injections, #spinalcordstimulation, #peripheralnervestimulation, #intrathecal therapy with #morphine, #ziconotide or other agents). At the core of our work ethos lie our love and dedication to our patients. The pursuit of an everlasting improvement of our field is the cornerstone of our everyday practice. This culture could eventually be further reinforced with such “a ring for pain physicians”. A ring that would both demonstrate our passion for the continuous advancement of our pain relief capabilities and our obligation to efficiently treat our patients. What if we adopt such a “ring culture”?

I would be more than happy to hear your thoughts on that. Any comments or suggestions are welcome. We are proud of #neuromodulation. Let′s be even more proud of ourselves. We have worked hard for it. We deserve it.

#SCS #neurosciences #neurotech #medtech #neurosurgery #neurology #anesthesiology #chronischeschmerzen #CRPS #rückenschmerzen #pavk #angina #rückenmarkstimulation #schmerzschrittmacher #neurostimulator #peripherenervenstimulation #intrathekal #pumpentherapie #schmerzpumpe #neurochirurgie #Uniklinik #K?ln