Douleurs et enseignements

Describing the way the theme of pain has been approached in medical curricula in France over the last decade is a formidable challenge because of the dual, pluridisciplinary and pluriprofessional, organization of training programs. Nevertheless, with the help of individual willpower, major progress has been made with, successively, the recognition that Pain must be one of the teaching modules for the French national classification tests for medical and allied professions, the development of specific diplomas devoted to the management of pain by healthcare personnel designed for nurses, psychologists, physical therapists and pharmacists, the continued recognition of the keystone training module for general practitioners and specialists, and finally the initiation of a specialized certification in “Medical management of pain and palliative care”, meeting the training needs of the two specialties to enable high-level medical management within the respective care organization schemes. Other more specialized certification programs devoted to the theme of pain, such as pain in children, acute pain, or psychopathology and pain, are further illustrations of these major advances in teaching pain.