12/26/2022
Our first speaker spotlight for this years symposium is Annie O’Connor, PT, OCS, Cert. MDT is Founder and CEO of a World of Hurt, LLC a consulting, teaching and private practice company dedicated to the integration of the Pain Mechanism Classification System into clinical practice. In addition, she is a Physical Therapy Manager for Anthem’s, AIM Specialty Health, Back Pain Guide Program. Annie has co-authored 2020, Pain Mechanism Classification Chapter, Rehabilitation of The Spine: A Patient Center Approach 3e, Liebenson C (ed). Wolters Kluwer Philadelphia publisher. She has co-authored 2021 and 2017, Therapeutic Exercise Chapter, Orthopedic Knowledge Update Spine 6 & 5, American Academy for Orthopedic Surgeons publisher. This chapter specifically is dedicated to helping Medical Doctors understand pain mechanism classification and the importance in therapeutic exercise selection. She has co-authored 2015 book “A World of Hurt: A Guide to Classifying Pain” and September 2016 Journal Article in JMMT “Validation of a pain mechanism classification system (PMCS) in physical therapy practice”. Both publications offer a research supported “paradigm shift” in treating Musculoskeletal Pain promoting effective and efficient outcomes with significant cost savings. She is an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist (OCS) of the American Physical Therapy Association and has a Certification in Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy in the McKenzie Method (Cert. MDT). She teaches nationally and internationally the World of HURT training courses, designed for interdisciplinary integration of the PMCS into clinical practice. She continues to treat orthopedic, neurological patients, and canines with pain and spasticity achieve the best life possible through her Chicago based private practice.