The Pyramid Model for the Stratification of Chronic Pain Treatment in the Community.

Most pain patients will be treated by primary care physicians trained as pain trustees. More challenging patients will be treated by physicians certified in pain and musculoskeletal medicine in secondary community clinics, while the most severe patients and the ones requiring invasive procedures will be seen in tertiary pain clinics. The two bottom levels of the pyramid—training medical students and addressing the public—are not discussed in this paper and have been omitted from the figure.