In the U.S., more than 30 million people are living with diabetes. Given the scope of the problem, it is necessary to identify effective, lower cost alternatives to individual medical appointments for diabetes care. Shared medical appointments (SMAs) are a treatment model that addresses many of the mandates outlined in in the Affordable Care Act. In SMAs, a group of patients meet with a physician and other healthcare professionals to discuss medical information and self-management behaviors. SMAs have been found to be associated with improved access and enhanced patient outcomes in comparison to usual care. However, patient satisfaction with the SMA intervention model has been vastly understudied. The main goal of this qualitative study was to conduct a detailed exploration of patient satisfaction with the SMA model. Fourteen patients with type 2 diabetes participated in this focus group study. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data from the focus groups. Five main themes were found, including the following: 1) patients no longer felt alone in managing their diabetes; 2) improving self-efficacy enhanced their diabetes care; 3) diabetes care requires re-contextualizing eating behaviors; 4) diabetes management is complex; and 5) patients frequently use fear-based messages to increase their level of motivation. Overall, patients were satisfied with the SMA model. This research adds to the diabetes SMA literature, as it highlights the components that are important for patient satisfaction with their medical care.Keywords: shared medical appointment, type 2 diabetes, patient satisfaction