Background: Despite the relevance of the topic and the adequate knowledge about the fundamentals of health literacy in health professionals’ practice, which can be translated into population empowerment towards healthcare, few institutions incorporate health literacy courses in their academic curriculum. The health literacy topic is not included in the Brazilian national guidelines - Law of Directives and Bases of National Education (LDB), n. 9.394/96 - and, according to it, there is no such a discipline as health literacy, at least not institutionally implemented as compulsory or optional discipline in the curriculum of Brazilian undergraduate courses. We sought to describe the process of inclusion of the discipline Functional Literacy in Health. Discussions about health literacy have broadened in recent years and the interpretation of such concept has also changed. Despite the relevance of the topic in health professionals’ practice, few institutions incorporate health literacy courses in their academic curriculum. Thus, the process to develop this discipline resulted from the need of filling the gap in the discipline matrix of master and doctorate courses, with this theme. Methods: The methodology adopted to elaborate the discipline followed the guidelines by Kern et al. based on the six steps: Identifying the problem and assessing general needs; Evaluating specific needs; Measurable, and specific, goals and objectives. Educational strategies. Implementation and Evaluation. Results: The academic load of the discipline comprises 30 hours of classroom lessons - divided into 8 meetings of 4 hours/class, each., using active methodologies based on directed studies, conversation circles, plenary sessions and group discussions, among others. It is an optional module offered to master (in the first semester) and doctorate’s (in the second semester) students on a yearly basis. Discussion: One relevant aspect of this research field lies on the new practices encouraged by the discipline, since they enable students to achieve health literacy in their professional experience. In this context, Findings confirmed that the quality of communication between health professionals and patients has strong influence on healthcare effectiveness. Thus, the combined use of assertiveness, clarity (language) and positivity plays a key role in optimizing health literacy and clinical practices.