Fig. 1

Summary of Entry and Exit Surveys. Students were given entry and exit surveys to evaluate their career motivations, comfort describing pain to patients and researchers, familiarity with pain terminology, and confidence presenting and understanding scientific data. Data were collected using surveys with 5-point Likert-type scales. Data shown are for questions with both entry and exit answers only. Values for answers to entry surveys are represented by black bars and answers to exit surveys are represented by white bars. Increases were seen for nearly all statements or questions presented to the students comparing the exit surveys to the entry surveys. An exception to this increase was the small decrease (not significant) in the likelihood for students to be pain clinicians in the future. This decrease was accompanied by a small increase (not significant) in the likelihood that they would pursue a research career instead. There were statistically significant differences (paired t-test P < 0.05) in students’ self-reported perceptions of the following questions: Question 12 - How would you evaluate your ability to create a scientific abstract (scale “very weak” to “very strong”; p = 0.015). Question 13 - How would you evaluate your ability to create a scientific poster (scale “very weak” to “very strong”; p = 0.041). Question 20 - How well do you think you understand what it is like to live with chronic pain (scale “not well” to “very well” p = 0.002). Question 24 - How comfortable do you feel explaining pain to another researcher (scale “very uncomfortable” to “very comfortable”; p = 0.00096). Question 25 - How comfortable do you feel explaining pain to a patient in lay terms (scale “very uncomfortable” to “very comfortable”; p = 0.017). Question 26 - How comfortable are you with pain research terminology (scale “very uncomfortable” to “very comfortable”; p = 0.0067)