Level 1 - Novice

If you are a health care professional not working in the diabetes field yet or you just started working in the field of diabetes education you are in the right place!

We welcome you to the rapidly expanding field of diabetes education and care. You are joining a growing number of caring health care professionals who are passionate about improving the care and outcomes of people with diabetes.

We understand that starting a new specialty can seem overwhelming, a little frightening but also exciting.  All of our staff are seasoned diabetes educators and started out just like you; excited to learn about diabetes education but not sure where to turn to get the diabetes fundamentals.

To meet this need, we have developed a comprehensive program to help you feel comfortable and confident as you expand your role in diabetes education. 

What are the steps involved in becoming a Certified Diabetes Educator^® (CDE)?

According to the National Credentialing Board for Diabetes Education (NCBDE) you need to have your professional license for at least 2 years as a RN, RD, PT, PharmD, PA, MD (and others) plus accumulate 1000 hours of diabetes self-management teaching experience to take the CDE^® exam.  

In order to demonstrate that you are ready to provide diabetes self-management education in your work setting, we recommend you: 

Step 1. Attend our Level 1 - Becoming a Diabetes Seminar. Upon completion of this comprehensive program, in addition to receiving the foundation to provide diabetes self-care education, you will also receive a certificate of completion that documents your knowledge and committment to providing excellent diabetes education.

Step 2. If you can't attend our live seminars, we invite you to enroll in our Level 1 Online courses which will provide you with selected beginning level on-demand diabetes presentations.

Step 3. Join our FREE web clinic Preparing for the CDE^® Exam which will answer many of your questions about the qualifications to become an educator and review the exam content.  We also offer a variety of other Free Webinars on diabetes topics that we invite you to join.

Step 4. Visit our Articles and Resources page, where you can download the CDE^® Application Handbook published by the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators and discover other tools and resources that will help you reach your goals.

The process of becoming a diabetes educator may take a few years as you increase your knowledge base and provide the 1000 required hours of diabetes self-care education.  We are here to help you on this journey. And when you are ready to take the CDE^® Exam, we invite you to join our Level 2 - Diabetes Educator Course!