A survey evaluation comparing pain curriculum taught in Australian exercise physiology degrees to graduate perceptions of their preparedness and competency to treat people with chronic pain.

Ten universities and 101 graduates responded. Median (interquartile range) instruction time on pain curriculum was 12 (7.25-18.75) hours. Few universities (30%) were aware of the guidelines for physical therapy pain curricula, although most (70%) agreed their degrees contained adequate instruction on pain assessment and management. In contrast, 74% of graduates felt their degree did not adequately prepare them to treat people with chronic pain. Half the graduates (51%) were not aware of the guidelines for physical therapy pain curricula. DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION: There is a disconnect between perceptions of Australian universities and their graduates regarding the sufficiency of pain curriculum taught to student exercise physiologists. Benchmarking pain curriculum in Australian university programs against relevant international recommendations may enhance the suitability of pain curricula taught to exercise physiologists, thereby better preparing new graduates to treat people with pain.