This document provides a core curriculum for professional education in pain. It is divided into four parts that cover: general topics in pain including anatomy, pharmacology, development of pain systems, and research methods; assessment and psychology of pain including measurement, placebo effects, imaging, epidemiology, and social/cultural aspects; treatment of pain including pharmacology, interventional techniques, surgery, rehabilitation and complementary therapies; and clinical pain states including taxonomy, tissue pain, visceral pain, headache/facial pain, nerve damage, and special cases. The document was created by an international task force to establish standards for pain education.