Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE)
- What exactly does one do?
A Certified Diabetes Educator is a health care professional who specializes in teaching diabetics or those with prediabetes, and those interested in the disease about diabetes, and how to manage their condition. The Certified Diabetes Educator is certified in the United States by the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators (NCBDE). In Canada, the certification process is handled by the Canadian Diabetes Educator Certification Board (CDECB).
Most often the Certified Diabetes Educator is also a dietitian, nurse, pharmacist, social worker, exercise physiologist, or a healthcare professional who works in one or more specialty areas. Usually the Certified Diabetes Educator specializes in care management and/or in educating diabetics. To become certified, the Certified Diabetes Educator must meet requirements for on-the-job, practical experience, have completed educational course work, and have successfully passed the certification examination of the appropriate certifying entity.
At many of the top diabetes centers and hospitals, most of the registered dieticians(RD’s) and nurses are certified diabetes educators who dispense information about diabetes nutrition, diabetes complications, and their treatment.
A certified diabetes educator is a professional in healthcare whose primary focus is educating individuals who either have or are at-risk of developing diabetes and its corollary conditions to effect changes in their behavior that can help bring about changes in the severity of their condition, and an overall improvement in their health. A certified diabetes educator use the depth of their education and skills in multiple areas of expertise: communicating, medical science and the social sciences, in teaching and counseling. Their goal is to develop within their students the ability to continue, through self-study, the broadening of their knowledge base.
Services provided by diabetes educators are eligible for third party reimbursement. In addition to coverage for diabetes self-management training/education (DSMT/E), services for discipline-specific counseling, such as medical nutrition therapy provided by dietitians/nutritionists, or medication therapy management services provided by pharmacists are available.
Certified Diabetes Educator
She or he serves the invaluable function of educating diabetics (and in many cases their family care givers) on how to properly control their glucose level, and how to keep from encountering hyperglycemia and the complications that can attend it if proper treatment is not maintained over the long run. Whereas most endocrinologists are hard pressed to have the time to spend with a person who has just been diagnosed with diabetes, the Certified Diabetes Educator can often expend as much time as is necessary in both educating and emotionally supporting the patient as required.
Sometimes a Certified Diabetes Educator will work directly for drug stores/pharmacies, doctors’ practices, clinics, and for diabetes education companies. Or they may act as independent contractors for one or more of the above. In the latter capacity, many are essentially self-employed. In either capacity, they often are asked about and give advice on what a good pre diabetes diet is and what are appropriate food for diabetics.
More information may be found here about certified diabetes educator job training.
How Does One Go About Becoming a Certified Diabetes Educator?
As mentioned, in the United States, the certification exam administered by the NCBDE is intended for and designed only for individuals in the healthcare professions whose sole duty 
is as a diabetes educator – not for any who only occasionally perform such an educational function as an incidental part of the other customary duties of their jobs.
Through an examination process and an individual assessment of the professional experience of the applicant, the NCBDE satisfies itself that the applicant meets the minimal requirements as set forward in its Eligibility Requirements for Initial Certification. These requirements for the Certified Diabetes Educator may be found on the website of the NCBDE at:
http://www.ncbde.org/eligibility.cfm .
A Certification Examination Handbook and Application may
be acquired by contacting:
AMP
Attention: NCBDE Coordinator
18000 West 105th Street
Olathe, KS 66061-7543
Phone 913 895-4600
Fax 913 895-4651
E mail: info@goamp.com
It has been pointed out by more than one observer that otherwise qualified applicants to become a Certified Diabetes Educator sometime fail to meet the following requirements: at least one thousand (1000) hours of Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME) experience with a minimum of 40% of those hours (400 hours) occurring in the most recent year which precedes the application.
Please note that there many other requirements for eligibility, and these can be found as noted above. But, unless an applicant to be a Certified Diabetes Educator has met the “thousand hours/400 hours in the most recent year requirement”, it might be best to first adhere to a schedule by which it can be met. The qualifications for Canadian certification are slightly shorter, but still longer than those with just a
casual interest can meet.
The Certified Diabetes Educator qualifications and requirement for the Canadian certification may be found here:
http://cdecb.ca/index.php?id=eligibility
Other information may be requested by contacting:
Coordinator
Canadian Diabetes Educator Certification Board
2878 King Street
Caledon , ON , L7C 0R3
Fax: 905 838-4899
Telephone: 905 838-4898
E Mail: cdecb@sympatico.ca