A New Chapter in Medical Education
The Physicians’ Fall Retreat
November 5-8, 2026 Mount Madonna Center, California
A newly imagined 3½-day immersive learning experience for physicians who want to deepen how they see, think, and care for patients.
Modern medicine rarely gives physicians the time to cultivate some of the capacities that matter most: the ability to observe more deeply, think more broadly, and see the human being more completely.
These capacities can’t be downloaded or outsourced. They develop through experience.
That is why we have reimagined the Physicians’ Fall Retreat, November 5-8, 2026, at Mount Madonna Center in California.
This new 3½-day immersive experience is built around the kind of learning that changes how we practice by changing how we see. Through observation, artistic work, dialogue, and practical application, participants strengthen ways of seeing and thinking that continue to shape patient care long after the retreat ends.
Designed to fit today's professional lives while preserving the richness of in-person learning, this is a completely new educational experience.
While this retreat is grounded in Anthroposophic Medicine, you don’t need previous experience in it. This year's program features a newly developed curriculum, a new educational format, and new opportunities for learning and reflective practice.
Why Experiential Learning Matters
Physicians are more than intellect alone. The capacities that most deeply influence patient care—careful observation, sound judgment, interest, empathy, and the ability to perceive the uniqueness of another human being—develop differently. They are cultivated through experience and practice.
That is why this retreat is intentionally experiential.
Nature observation. Artistic exploration. Clinical dialogue. Therapeutic demonstrations. Practicums. Quiet reflection. These are not breaks from the curriculum; they are the curriculum. Each activity engages different human capacities and, together, they deepen how we meet our patients.
In Anthroposophic Medicine we recognize that physicians, like the patients they serve, are whole human beings. Education should therefore engage more than the intellect alone. It should strengthen the will through active observation and intentional practice, the feeling through artistic exploration and living experience, and the thinking through self-reflection and meaningful dialogue.
You’re invited to a new approach to learning—in a beautiful setting
Learn with physicians who invite you into a different way of observing, thinking, and practicing.
PAAM Education co-directors Adam Blanning, MD and Carmen Hering, DO don't simply teach anthroposophic medicine. They are among the physicians helping shape how it is taught and practiced in North America today.
Drawing on decades of clinical practice, physician education, and international leadership, they invite participants into a different way of observing, thinking, and practicing. Every session is grounded in real clinical experience and designed to influence the way physicians care for patients.
Some learning requires living presence.
Throughout the retreat, you'll engage in phenomenological observation, artistic exercises, clinical practicums, case discussions, and meaningful conversations with fellow physicians.
Lab topics include:
Alchemy of substance: expansion and contraction
Alchemy of form: Skeletal morphology
Sculpting the bones: exploring formative forces
Deepening our perception through the art and science of physical examination
Gaining information matters. But gaining experience matters more. Our goal is to help you develop a richer way of seeing and treating patients.
Join colleagues who broaden your perspective.
Whether you are new to anthroposophic medicine or have studied it for years, every participant contributes something valuable.
Some bring decades of anthroposophic experience. Others bring decades of clinical experience from other medical disciplines. Some are young physicians or residents in training.
Limited to just 25 physicians, the retreat creates an environment where meaningful conversations naturally develop—with faculty, with colleagues, and often long after the retreat has ended. The exchange of perspectives is one of the retreat's greatest strengths, creating opportunities to learn from one another while exploring new ways of approaching patient care.
Learn in an environment designed for reflection.
The Mount Madonna Center is more than a beautiful location. Its natural surroundings create the space to slow down, observe, reflect, and reconnect with nature, with colleagues, and with the deeper questions of medical practice.
The setting becomes part of the learning.
Registration is now open for the 2026 Physicians’ Fall Retreat
Register by September 17 for the early registration rate
Your registration includes:
3½ days of immersive, faculty-led learning
An intimate retreat experience limited to 25 physicians
Free time to reflect, connect, and regenerate
Tuition and program fees
Complimentary access to Learner+, with the opportunity to earn up to 20 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ through the separately certified Reflective Practice activity
A personal retreat notebook and artistic materials
Choose the registration option that applies to you.
Thoughtfully Designed for Today's Physician
We know stepping away from practice isn't easy.
That's why what was once a week-long retreat has been thoughtfully reimagined as an immersive 3½-day experience (November 5–8, Thursday–Sunday).
This is not a shortened version of previous retreats. The curriculum, educational approach, and learning experience have all been newly developed to preserve the depth of the experience while making it more accessible to today's physicians.
Reflective Practice and CME/CE Credit
PAAM is pleased to offer participants access to Learner+, a clinician-centered platform through which eligible learners may earn CME/CE credit for the certified activity Reflective Practice.
Participants may use Learner+ to document reflections on their learning throughout the retreat.
The certified Reflective Practice activity is jointly provided by CME Outfitters. Credit is awarded for the learner’s completed reflection in Learner+, not for attendance at the retreat or for PAAM’s educational content. Participants who complete eligible reflections may earn up to 20 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ through Learner+.
Download the Fall Retreat Schedule
Who Should Attend?
This retreat is designed for physicians who:
Want to deepen how they understand the human being in health and illness.
Want to slow down and be re-inspired and re-enlivened
Are exploring anthroposophic medicine for the first time.
Have attended previous programs and want to experience the new curriculum and further develop their skills.
Value thoughtful dialogue with colleagues committed to whole-person medicine.
Are looking for an educational experience that will continue to influence their practice long after the retreat concludes.
Curious? Join Our Free Information Session
Have questions about the newly reimagined Fall Retreat?
Join Adam Blanning, MD and Carmen Hering, DO for a free 30-minute online information session on August 25.
Learn more about the retreat, meet the faculty, and ask your questions in an informal conversation.
Part of the 3-year Education Program—or Valuable on Its Own
The Fall Retreat is one component of the Anthroposophic Medicine Education Program, but it also stands on its own as a complete educational experience.
Many physicians begin their anthroposophic journey here. Others return to deepen and renew their understanding.
Wherever you are in your professional development, you'll leave with practical clinical insights, renewed inspiration, and new capacities you can bring directly into practice.
Join Us This Fall - November 5-8, 2026
The retreat lasts 3½ days . . . its influence on your practice can last for years.
Every patient you see afterward becomes an opportunity to apply what you've cultivated during this retreat.
If you have been looking for time to step back, learn with exceptional faculty and thoughtful colleagues, and deepen the way you practice medicine in a setting as spectacular as Mount Madonna, join us this November.