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Byline: Raghu. Thota, Seshadri. Ramkiran, Sarita. Singh, Anuja. Damani, Anjana. Wajekar, Lakshmi. Koyyalagunta Background and Aims: Cancer pain guidelines remain confined due to implementation barriers, preventing them from attaining a [...]

Background Methods Results Conclusions Despite a long history of disparities in medicine, women have made significant progress toward gender equity in medical schools, training programs, and many fields in recent years. However, pain medicine has remained behind most specialties in female recruitment and representation.We reviewed the latest demographic data on practicing physicians, trainees, and applicants with the aim of analyzing gender trends and identifying potential factors contributing to the shortage of women in our specialty.Based on data from the past 10 years, the percentages of women among pain physicians, fellows, and applicants have remained stagnant, in contrast to the increases seen not only in the general medical workforce but also in other interventional specialties.Given these trends, it is likely that persistent gender disparities and biases play a role in preventing women from pursuing careers in pain, and unlikely that the current trajectory will change unless we take steps to address these and other relevant factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Medical marijuana (MM) and cannabidiol (CBD) have received increasing attention to manage pain and other symptoms even with limited scientific evidence. Objectives: We examined the attitudes and beliefs of health care providers toward MM and CBD compared to standard treatments for cancer-associated pain and various symptoms. Design: Two sets of anonymous surveys (MM and CBD) containing similar items were completed by clinicians of four symptom-focused specialties. Results: A minority of respondents preferred recommending MM (9%) and CBD (13%), respectively, over opioids for cancer pain, while 11% and 22% felt that MM and CBD, respectively, would be useful to combine with opioids to treat cancer pain. Respondents did not favor MM or CBD over common treatment options for nonpain symptoms. Conclusion: MM and CBD were not preferred over current standard treatments for pain and other symptoms. Responses from the four specialties aligned with unique aspects of their clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]