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EURACT 2016 Family doctors learn about the therapeutic potential of exercise through an experiential CME course Reena Rosenberg, Yitzchak Dresner, Alma Ziv-Goldman and Eva Dovrat department of family medicine, tel aviv university, tel aviv, israel Background and Aims The Family Medicine Department in the Clalit HMO Central District conducts weekly CME courses for primary care physicians. An experiential course called Therapy through Movement was created to expose family doctors to the importance and therapeutic potential of exercise in various medical conditions, and to improve the cooperation between doctor and physiotherapist. The course was taught by a physiotherapist. Methods The course consisted of ten 90 minute sessions and focused on common musculoskeletal problems. It included learning basic concepts, practising the exercises on mats, and learning the use of accessories. The course was repeated three times. Preand post-course questionnaires were filled out by participants. A final questionnaire was sent to all family doctors in the district. The approach to low back pain was chosen as a marker to measure any change between participants and non-participants. Results 33 family doctors participated in the course, some more than once. The post-course questionnaires showed very high satisfaction with the course, and an increase in the number of doctors who refer back pain patients to physiotherapy. 10 participants and 38 non-participants returned the final questionnaire. 98% of all the responders refer back pain patients and 84% emphasize the importance of exercise. Participants showed more positive attitudes to all the questions and 89% reported directly implementing what they learned about exercise therapy with their patients. Conclusions An experiential course in exercise for family doctors was both enjoyable and effective in improving knowledge and attitudes, and positively influencing every day practice. © 2017 informa uK Limited, trading as taylor & francis Group CONTACT reena rosenberg [email protected] D ow nl oa de d by [ A us tr al ia n C at ho lic U ni ve rs ity ] at 1 2: 10 0 5 A ug us t 2 01 7