What The Heck Is A Certified Diabetes Educator?

This writer has written nearly fifty articles about diabetes. Does this mean that I can call myself a Certified Diabetes Educator? Although I do my best to help spread accurate information about diabetes, I legally cannot call myself a Certified Diabetes Educator. The "certified" part is for a reason – you have to earn a certificate (that acts a bit like a diploma) from the National Certification Board for Diabetics Educators (NCBDE).

How Do You Get One?

If I wanted to become a Certified Diabetes Educator, first I'd have to switch professions from freelance writer to medicine. The exams to get the certificate are only available to medical professionals. The exams are voluntary. Although the NCBDE hopes that a certificate would not be a requirement for a health care job, it hopes that a certificate might help with promotions.

And even if you are a medical professional, you still have to check with the NCBDE to see if you require to even take the examination. They require a 1000 or more hours of

"diabetes self-management education experience". No, I don't know what that means, either. But then again, I'm not a Certified Diabetes Educator.

The privilege of taking the examination isn't for free, either. You have to fork out a hefty application fee. Good thing you are already a licensed medical professional so you can afford this. Your certificate is good for five years. It's currently $250 (US) plus a whole lot of paperwork in order to get a renewal. If you're late, it's a $350 (US) fee. You also need to prove that you are taking continuing diabetes education or take another exam. These renewal procedures are scheduled to change in 2010.

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Selected Diabetes Articles

Diabetes And Exercise: Perfect Together

Having diabetes doesn't mean you are bedridden for the rest of your life. On the contrary, regular exercise is a great way to manage your diabetes. And exercise has other health benefits such as help keep your circulation going, your heart strong and your energy levels up. You don’t have to become a triathlete in order to get benefits from regular exercise if you are diabetic. But you do need to have both your diabetes and exercise plans approved by your doctor. [Read full article]
 

All About Diabetes Education

With the Internet giving you access to billions of pages of information, it is no wonder that this is the place to go when trying to bring diabetes education into your life or the life of someone you care about. But it doesn't stop there, as must be a need for the information in order to get someone educated on the subject. More and more people must learn that one of the key factors in preventing and treating this illness is through diabetes education. There are so many people walking around with little or no knowledge on the subject matter and it is important for your nation and for our future for us to be more informed. [Read full article]
 

What are the Causes of Diabetes?

Unfortunately, there are many theories about what causes diabetes but no real certainties. Most doctors agree that there are specific factors that are generally present, and when they consider these things, along with the way this disease manifests itself in the body, they feel they are able to offer realistic speculations on what causes diabetes. [Read full article]