The curricula of veterinary medicine should provide tools for future professionals to meet society demands, which include direct concerns for the animals. The overall scenario of education in veterinary medicine on issues of animal welfare and pain was studied. This study was conducted through the analysis of documents available online and via questionnaires to coordinators of veterinary medicine programs. The program description, its curriculum and course content descriptions were considered. Results show that 46% of the 94 institutions studied offer an animal welfare course and 26% offer an ethology course. We observed a direct relationship with the physical component of animal welfare; the other two components, the behavioral and psychological ones, do not receive similar attention throughout the programs. In the study of course contents of the veterinary programs, the term 'animal welfare' is used in a diffuse manner and the term 'pain' appears in 54% of the programs studied, mainly related to disciplines covering its pathology, physiology, pharmacology and anesthesiology. We conclude that in the teaching of veterinary medicine in Brazil there is an emphasis on the physical realm of animal welfare, and that there is room for improvement in the naturalness and psychological realms and in the teaching of pain.
animal welfare; animal pain; curricula; programs; veterinary medicine
