​The Michael J Cousins Pain Management and Research Centre (MJC PMRC) is a large multidisciplinary pain clinic located in the Douglas Building of the Royal North Shore Hospital. It was established in 1991 responding to the need for a specialist facility to manage all types of pain.

Since 1991 MJC PMRC has been providing comprehensive assessment and management of pain related conditions, in addition to pain related research activities. It is a leading training site for the Faculty of Pain Medicine with two accredited registrar positions and hosts the regional training tutorials and exam preparation sessions.

Services are provided for all patients, both inpatients and outpatients, including bulk-billed Medicare and privately insured patients, in addition also for patients under compensation schemes such as Work Cover or CTP. Priority is given to referrals from within our own health district however we do accept referrals from all over NSW.

Our ADAPT pain management programme has been running here since 1994 under the leadership of Professor Michael Nicholas. ADAPT is internationally recognised for its outstanding results in improving the lives of people with chronic pain. We now offer additional programmes to cater for the variety needs that pain presents.

Over the last 25 years our team has established the experience, expertise and evidence base to manage pain, with particular emphasis on self-management and returning to work and function after injury. If return to work is a goal for people attending our programs, we will work with the patient, their rehabilitation provider, and employer (if available) to assist in the return to work process.

The Centre is strongly committed to improving the understanding and management of chronic pain in the community and since 1996 has provided the base for the University of Sydney’s Medical School to provide post-graduate education in pain management for all health disciplines. Our University of Sydney activities are provided through the co-located Pain Management Research Institute (PMRI), under the Directorship of Professor Paul Glare. In 2010 the NSW Ministry of Health recognised the PMRI as the Lead Centre for pain management education and research in NSW.

Our education programs, directed by Professor Michael Nicholas, include formal post-graduate degrees (Masters, Diploma, and Certificates) in multidisciplinary pain management, and training in pain self-management skills for health professionals across Australia. Both educational programs are now conducted online, but we do run in-person workshops as well. Our degree program is the only program endorsed by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) as meeting its criteria for providing an interdisciplinary pain management curriculum. The Federal Department of Health has also awarded the PMRI as the lead for a project to develop a nation-wide pain education program for all health professions.