Register for the Getting What You Need Strategic Communications Workshop
PainConnect 2026 invites you to take your voice and your impact to the next level with our Getting What You Need: Strategic Communications Workshop. Designed for pain medicine professionals, this interactive session equips participants with practical tools to communicate effectively across multiple audiences, including colleagues, healthcare administrators, reporters, and policymakers.
Space is extremely limited to 45 participants. Tickets are included in full registration. Priority access is given to AAPM members registered for PainConnect 2026, with registration opening to all attendees on January 1, 2026.
Whether you’re navigating high-stakes meetings, explaining complex pain care protocols to a lay audience, or responding to media inquiries, the skills gained in this strategic communications workshop will immediately translate into real-world results.
Why a Strategic Communications Workshop?
In today’s fast-paced, high-information medical environment, knowing how to practice excellent pain care isn’t enough. Clinicians must also communicate what they know: clearly, persuasively, and with the ability to influence change. That’s where the Getting What You Need: Strategic Communications Workshop comes in.
Led by nationally recognized expert Kate M. Nicholson, JD, this session focuses on real-world communication challenges faced by pain professionals. Through exercises, peer discussion, and expert coaching, participants will learn a strategic framework that can be applied across multiple domains, clinical settings, advocacy, research dissemination, and healthcare leadership.
What You’ll Learn in the Strategic Communications Workshop
This interactive session is structured to deliver immediate value to professionals in pain care. Workshop components include:
- Translating Science to Clarity: Learn how to distill complex research, data, or clinical practices into accessible language for patients, press, and policymakers.
- Persuasion Framework: Break down the core structure of a persuasive message—including the lede, the argument, the “to be sure” counterpoint, and the call to action.
- Audience Mapping: Discover how to tailor your messaging to specific stakeholders—from policymakers and system administrators to news outlets and community groups.
- Credibility & Impact: Learn how to balance stories and statistics to build trust, connect emotionally, and present evidence-based arguments effectively.
- Real-time Coaching: Work through communication examples from your own practice and receive expert and peer feedback.
Who Should Attend?
This workshop is ideal for:
- Physicians, advanced practice providers, and pharmacists who lead or advocate for change
- Researchers and fellows looking to elevate the impact of their work
- Healthcare leaders managing institutional communication
- Anyone passionate about improving pain care through dialogue and education
No prior experience in public speaking or advocacy is required.
Secure Your Spot – Space is Limited
- Included in full conference registration
- Available exclusively to AAPM members registered for PainConnect through December 31
- Open to all attendees starting January 1, 2026
Meet the Workshop Leader: Kate M. Nicholson, JD
Kate Nicholson, JD, is the Founder and Executive Director of the National Pain Advocacy Center (NPAC) and a nationally respected voice in the intersection of healthcare, law, and patient advocacy. Her professional credentials include 18 years as a health rights attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Kate also brings lived experience to her work, having lived with intractable pain for two decades due to a surgical injury. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, STAT, Los Angeles Times, and more. She has spoken at the World Health Organization, TED, and leading policy forums. Her leadership has influenced decisions from state legislatures to the U.S. Supreme Court and helped shape national pain policy.
