Recent History
Formation of AFMM
The academic development of Musculoskeletal Medicine brought the NZAMSM and its Australian counterpart, the Australian Association of Musculoskeletal Medicine (AAMM), closer together and in 1996 a new autonomous body was formed, the Australasian Faculty of Musculoskeletal Medicine (AFMM). This new academic body was formed to specifically develop academic guidelines to Fellowship status and a full specialist training programme in Musculoskeletal Medicine culminating in Fellowship examinations. In 1999 the first Fellowship exams were held and since then there have been 64 Fellows (16 NZ Doctors) admitted to the AFMM. Professor Nikolai Bogduk from the University of Newcastle, Australia has been a driving force and a strong influence in the development of the Fellowship curriculum. The academic syllabus and guidelines are strongly evidence based medicine and these are regularly upgraded. The AFMM registrar training programme is still evolving, recent inclusion is the Masters of Pain Medicine. Further specialised training is now evolving in for example high technology injection diagnostics and treatment including procedures such as; medial branch blocks for zygapophysial joint pain, provocative discography, sacroiliac joint injections and transforaminal injections for radicular pain. All these are performed under radiological control.
In addition to Fellowship qualifications, Doctors wanting to practice as Specialist Musculoskeletal Physicians in NZ must also complete Accreditation in Musculoskeletal Medicine followed by 3 yearly Re-accreditation and Quality Assurance programmes administered by the NZAMSM and AFMM.
Recognition by NZ Medical Council
In 2000 the NZ Medical Council recognized Musculoskeletal Medicine as a new Vocational Branch of Medicine. Since then the Accident Compensation Corporation of NZ (ACC) have recognised Accredited Musculoskeletal Physicians with Fellowship qualifications in their Specialist contracts. A number of private medical insurance companies have also recognised Musculoskeletal Physicians as Specialists in their health policy cover.
Since small beginnings in 1981, Musculoskeletal Medicine in NZ has evolved over the last 20 years into a recognised specialist branch of medicine. The NZAMSM and Musculoskeletal Medicine in NZ, owe their existence to a small number of visionary, enthusiastic committed Medical Practitioners who have been driven by the need to seek answers and solutions to their patient’s musculoskeletal pain problems. Our organisation and Musculoskeletal Medicine will continue to evolve, driven by this need of Doctors who become interested in Musculoskeleletal Medicine to further their knowledge and find solutions for their patients.