Certified Diabetes Educator!
I've been busy preparing for my exam to be a Certified Diabetes Educator and guess what? All that hard work paid off! I finally got the letter today with my passing results. For anyone who is interested in diabetes management, I strongly recommend going through the certification process. The hard part for most professionals is getting the 1,000 hours of teaching experience for eligibility. If you are currently not in a position that gives you this experience, don't give up. Look for opportunities in your current location and don't be scared to let your employer know about your interest. Once you get your certification there are many different routes that you can take; my future goal is to team up with other healthcare professionals to create our own accredited Diabetes Education Program within the community.
Today, for every certified diabetes educator, there are an estimated 1,600 patients in need of services. Data from an AADE National Practice Survey from 2005 and 2006 showed that 63% of diabetes educators reported seeing fewer than 500 patients per year, or two patient visits per day, and 42% reported seeing more than 1,001 patients per year, or four patients per day, according to the survey results – so we're eager to bring more into the mix.