About Us
Professor Edward.A. Shipton
Edward (Ted) is a Co-Founder and Director of Christchurch Pain Management Services. He is a fully qualified Specialist Pain Medicine Physician and an Anaesthetist. He is a medical advisor to the Medical Council of New Zealand. He was, until recently, the Academic Head and Chair of the Department of Anaesthesia, Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, at University of Otago; and the Medical Director of Pain Management for the Canterbury District Health Board.
Dr Elspeth.E. Shipton
Elspeth is a Co-Founder and Practice Manager of Christchurch Pain Management Services. She holds a PhD in Medicine from the University of Notre Dame Australia. She has a wide knowledge of pain-focused research.
She is a Registered Nurse and Midwife with significant post registration experience in the field of Pain Management. She is also experienced in the field of Public Health.
Professor E.A. Shipton
He obtained his MBCHB from the University of Cape Town and undertook his Specialist training in Anaesthesia in Bloemfontein and obtained his Doctorate in Medicine at the University of the Orange Free State. He spent time at the University of Oxford studying Pain Medicine.
He founded the first full-time Multidisciplinary Pain Relief Service in South Africa at the University of the Orange Free State. From 1989 to 2001, Ted was Professor of Anaesthesia at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and served as a University Sub Dean for five years. He served on the Council of the South African Society of Anaesthesiologists as well as on the Executive Committee of the South African College of Anaesthetists.In 1989, he established a Pain Relief and Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand, and in 1991, he established the first Acute Pain Relief Service in South Africa. For many years he has been actively involved in teaching Registrars and Medical and Dental students. He served three terms as President of the ‘Pain Management Society of Southern Africa’.
In 1998, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal College of Anaesthetists for his international contribution to Anaesthesia and Analgesia. In 2000, he was elected to Fellowship of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. In 2001, he obtained his two-year Postgraduate Diploma in Pain Management from the University of Sydney. Later that year, he obtained the Fellowship of the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists.
He served as Dean of the Australian and New Zealand Faculty of Pain Medicine from 2014 to 2016. During that period, he was appointed as Director of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. He served as the Chair of the New Zealand National Committee of the Australian and New Zealand Faculty of Pain Medicine.
He is sole author of the book ‘Pain – Acute and Chronic’ (Arnold: London) and is author of several other chapters in anaesthetic and pain textbooks. He has over 100 publications in peer-reviewed Journals.
Some recent publications by Prof. EA Shipton – See under Links
Dr Elspeth.E. Shipton
She completed a BSc Nursing degree at the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 1981. She holds an MSc Med (Community Health) from the University of Cape Town and a Diploma of Nursing Education from the University of Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
She has worked as a lecturer and as an external examiner at the University of Cape Town, and as a medical researcher for the Human Biochemistry Research Unit, at the South African Institute for Medical Research.
She has worked in the field of Pain Medicine for twenty-five years. Her work has mostly focused on providing advice and support for patients and relatives, as well as ensuring effective communication with all members of the multidisciplinary team. She assists Prof Shipton with the development of evidence-based pain management treatment plans within a biopsychosocial framework. She provides clinical assessment of patient needs and implementation and evaluation of programmes of care. She has also been actively involved with developing external professional networks with funders and providers. She supports patients to take responsibility for their health, well‐being and lifestyle.
The focus of her Ph D research was the education of medical students in pain medicine in Australia and New Zealand. She presented her findings at the combined Australian Pain Society and New Zealand Pain Society Scientific meeting in Sydney in 2018, and at the IASP World Conference in Boston 2018,The Australian & New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators (ANZAHPE) conference in Canberra in 2019 and the New Zealand Pain Society Conference in 2022.
Areas of Elspeth Shipton’s research include:
Childhood Malnutrition
Onset of menarche, cycle regularity and proneness to breast cancer
Obesity in South African Adolescents
Rate of growth and intelligence in South African School children
Tooth brushing and general personal hygiene practice in South African school children
Knowledge of cancer in groups of students, nurses and medical personnel in general
Cannabinoids and Pain
Vitamin D and Chronic Pain, Sleep and Depression
The use of Opioids in Pain Management
Pain Medicine Education
Publications by Elspeth E Shipton
Shipton EE, Steketee C, Visser E. The Pain Medicine Curriculum Framework-structured integration of pain medicine education into the medical curriculum. Frontiers in Pain Research. 2023;3.
Shipton EE, Steketee C, Bate F, Visser EJ.Exploring assessment of medical students’ competencies in pain medicine-A review.Pain Rep. 2018 Dec 12;4(1):e704.
Shipton EE, Bate F, Garrick R, Steketee C, Shipton EA, Visser EJ.Systematic Review of Pain Medicine Content, Teaching, and Assessment in Medical School Curricula Internationally. Pain Ther. 2018 Jul 30
Shipton EE, Bate F, Garrick R, Steketee C, Visser EJ.Pain medicine content, teaching and assessment in medical school curricula in Australia and New Zealand.BMC Med Educ. 2018 May 11;18(1):110
Shipton EA, Shipton EE, Shipton AJ.A Review of the Opioid Epidemic: What Do We Do About It? Pain Ther. 2018 Jun;7(1):23-36
Shipton EE, Shipton AJ, Williman JA, Shipton EA.Deaths from Opioid Overdosing: Implications of Coroners’ Inquest Reports 2008-2012 and Annual Rise in Opioid Prescription Rates: A Population-Based Cohort Study. Pain Ther. 2017 Dec;6(2):203-215.
Shipton EA, Shipton EE.Vitamin D and Pain: Vitamin D and Its Role in the Aetiology and Maintenance of Chronic Pain States and Associated Comorbidities. Pain Res Treat. 2015;2015:904967.
Shipton EE, Shipton EA.Vitamin D Deficiency and Pain: Clinical Evidence of Low Levels of Vitamin D and Supplementation in Chronic Pain States. Pain Ther. 2015 Jun;4(1):67-87.
Shipton EA, Shipton EE. Should doctors be allowed to prescribe cannabinoids for pain in Australia and New Zealand. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 2014. 48(4) 310-313
Shipton EA, Shipton EE. The pain epidemic: some proposed solutions. N Z Med J. 2005 Aug 26; 118(1221):U1627
Walker AR, Shipton E, Walker BF. Tooth brushing frequency and personal hygiene practices in 14-year-old black and white children in South Africa. South Afr J Epidemiol Infect 1990; vol 5(2) 33-36
Walker AR, Shipton E et al. Appendicectomy incidence in black and white children aged 0 to 14 years with a discussion on the disease’s causation. Trop Gastroenterol. 1989 Apr-Jun, 10(2):96-101