Introduction:

Scientific, technological and social progress in different areas of knowledge, notably in biological sciences and health care, gives rise to moral conflicts in medicine and increases the relevance of bioethics in relation to new interfaces in the doctor-patient relationship, raising the need for improvements in ethical training during undergraduate medical school.

Objective:

The objective of this study was to verify the availability of curricular contents that addresses the content of bioethics in the curricular matrices of undergraduate medical courses in Brazil.

Method:

This was a documentary study. Data collection was carried out on the website of each medical course. The curricular matrices of each course were analyzed, verifying information on the availability of curricular components or the presence of curricular content with the content of bioethics in the matrix. When present, the workload, cycle and modality (whether associated, isolated, throughout the course, in other disciplines or optional) were verified.

Result:

It was observed that bioethics was offered by 61.85% of the courses, with the majority offering it in the basic cycle, associated with another curricular component, with an average of 53 hours. The courses in the southern region offered the curricular component at a higher percentage and with a greater number of hours.

Conclusion:

It was concluded that the teaching of bioethics, despite its importance, is still not offered by all medical courses in Brazil, contrary to the national curricular guidelines of the Ministry of Education and the recommendations of UNESCO.

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