Over 30 countries have adopted National Strategic Plans for Dementia care (NSPD)(Chow et al., 2018). These strategies are considered the single most powerful means to transform dementia care at the national level (Alzheimer’s Disease International, 2017). Although NSPD are unique to each country, they share some objectives, for example, improving training and education of professionals working with people with dementia (PwD) is a priority in the NSPDs’ of 16 countries. In some countries, the NSPD have led to greater emphasis on early diagnosis. However, there are challenges in the implementation of the nationally accepted diagnostic and management guidelines (Chow et al., 2018).

As a common first point of contact for patients dealing with cognitive decline, primary care physicians (PCP) play a key role in timely diagnosis and management of dementia. PCPs around the world, have expressed an interest for further education and training, yet the best method to accomplish this objective has yet to be determined (Schütze et al., 2018). Global and national guidelines need to be translated into practical and locally relevant training programs in order to have an effect on practices. This is especially true for dementia where local social services and non-pharmacological interventions need to be coordinated early in the course of the disease (Cohen-Mansfield, 2018). Most PCPs training programs reported in the literature, focus on national or international workshops, which although possibly effective in terms of knowledge transfer, do not create local connections among the available social and medical systems, resources and experts that may allow not only transfer of knowledge to PCPs, but also facilitate changes in practices and sustainability at the local level (Chow et al., 2018; Schütze et al., 2018). We report on the development and evaluation of a pilot CME for PCPs. The CME course aimed to: impact on the knowledge, attitudes, confidence and practices of PCPs in relation to diagnosis and treatment of people with dementia (PwD) and their family caregivers. Our vision was to facilitate local community-based social services and medical