2016 Elizabeth Narcessian Award for Outstanding Educational Achievements in the Field of Pain
Stefan J. Friedrichsdorf, MD, FAAP
Stefan J. Friedrichsdorf, MD, FAAP is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota and medical director of the Department of Pain Medicine, Palliative Care and Integrative Medicine at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics in Minnesota, Minneapolis/St. Paul – one of the largest and most comprehensive programs of its kind in the country. The pain & palliative care program is devoted to control acute, chronic/complex and procedural pain in all in- and outpatients in close collaboration with all pediatric subspecialties at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics. The team also provides holistic, interdisciplinary care for children and teens with life-limiting or terminal diseases and their families. Integrative Medicine provides and teaches integrative (“nonpharmacological”) therapies (such as massage, acupuncture/acupressure, biofeedback, aromatherapy, selfhypnosis) to provide care that promotes optimal health and supports the highest level of functioning in all individual child’s activities.
Dr. Friedrichsdorf sees pediatric patients as inpatients, in the interdisciplinary pain clinic, in the palliative care clinic, or in the community/at home. The department received the “Circle of Life Award” by the American Hospital Association in 2008, and was the 2013 recipient of the “Clinical Centers of Excellence in Pain Management Award” by the American Pain Society. Dr. Friedrichsdorf is the Principal Investigator of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) / National Cancer Institute (NCI) five-year multisite study on the creation, implementation and evaluation of a Pediatric Palliative Care Curriculum (EPEC-Pediatrics) and is course director of the annual week-long “Pediatric Pain Master Class”. He is associate editor of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. Dr. Friedrichsdorf lectures extensively nationally and internationally about pediatric pain medicine, palliative care and integrative medicine and has a track record of publications in the field, including contributions to more than 20 books on the subject. He also has worked as a newspaper delivery boy, factory worker, remotely talented actor, assistant nurse, journalist, paramedic, EMT, life-guard, children’s theater director, and youth group leader. He is happily married to Ruth (a much smarter pediatrician) and they live with their three elementary-school children in groovy Minneapolis, Minnesota.
