Mini Blog: 2 minutes with...Frances James

Spend a couple of minutes getting to know our new President-Elect, Dr Fran James...

1. What is your current role/job/position? 

I have three roles at the moment:

Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Chronic Pain Service, Counties Manukau Health  (0.6)

Clinical Leader, Chronic Pain Service, Counties Manukau Health  (0.2)

Clinical Leader, Well Managed Pain Collaborative, Beyond 20,000 Days Campaign, Counties Manukau Health  (0.1)- this is a quality improvement project and we are providing multidisciplinary input for inpatients with severe or complex pain.

2. How did you get into working in Pain Management?  

I did my Masters thesis on using self hypnosis for the management of chronic pain with Bob Large at the Auckland Hospital Pain Clinic.  The team were incredibly supportive and I found the work fascinating so I went on to do my PhD on pain with Bob as well.

3. If you weren't working in Pain Management what would you be doing?  

My clinical work has always been within health. I enjoyed working in the National Burn Centre.  I love working with people and there are lots of areas that tempt me.

4. If you could invite any 3 people to have dinner, who would you choose and why?

I have long been intrigued by Emmeline Pankhurst because family rumour says my great aunt joined her protests and was ‘fetched’ home from London.  I would also love to invite Dame Whina Cooper and Rosa Parks.  They all changed the world and inspired people to challenge their thinking.

5. What is the most important advance you hope will be made in Pain in the next ten years?  

I hope that the general population understanding of health will expand from disease and injury concepts to include a general acknowledgement that the brain isn’t taken out of the body and put in a box beside the bed when we are injured and that recovery is always about the whole person.