What does "board-certified in Pain Medicine" actually mean?

A physician can legally perform some pain-related procedures without any subspecialty training in pain medicine — a primary specialty like anesthesiology or physical medicine and rehabilitation is enough to open that door. Board certification in Pain Medicine specifically is what tells a patient a physician has met a separate, standardized bar for pain diagnosis and treatment beyond their primary specialty — not just added procedures onto an existing practice.

That distinction is what matters when choosing who performs a procedure on you: it separates a physician credentialed specifically in this field from one practicing pain treatment as an extension of something else. And unlike a claim on a website, it's a credential you can check yourself.

Dr. Foster is board-certified in both anesthesiology and the Pain Medicine subspecialty. Verify it directly through certificationmatters.org, the official ABMS public verification service — for this or any physician you're considering.