On Nov. 21 pain medicine specialist Dr. Pradeep Chopra, clinical assistant professor of medicine in the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, was honored for his lifelong dedication to caring for patients with chronic pain. He received the Schwartz Center Compassionate Caregiver Award at the center’s dinner in Boston, attended by about 2,000 people. “To heal someone of their suffering is a combination of science and compassionate care,” said Chopra, who directs the Interventional Pain Management Center of Rhode Island in Pawtucket. “Compassionate care is much more than the science of medicine. It is giving hope, care, and love.” Chopra, who grew up in Calcutta and worked with Mother Teresa, sees patients from all over the world whose pain has been especially hard to relieve. One patient wrote to the Schwartz Center that Chopra listened when other physicians did not: “Patients with rare disorders get dismissed so easily by the medical profession. Doctors and other caregivers often make us feel like we are burdens or mentally ill. As patients, we then get nervous and afraid every time we have to see someone new. He gave me faith in the medical community again.”