P304 - Educating Physical Therapists as Providers within the Diabetes Care Team

Diabetes and associated risk factors are prevalent in 80% of patients referred for physical therapy (PT), highlighting the need for treatment planning adjustments and optimizing care in musculoskeletal rehabilitation. PTs have expertise in exercise prescription, lifestyle modification, patient education, and musculoskeletal assessment, all of which can assist with mitigating therapeutic inertia. Unfortunately, the role of PTs as diabetes care providers remains underexplored and evidence of PTs' knowledge of diabetes management is lacking. This poster describes a study aimed to determine PTs' level of foundational diabetes knowledge and examine the benefits of an education session about diabetes management for PTs in a post-graduate residency program. Funding source: none.