In order to qualify for the CDE designation, must you have a Bachelor’s degree? I am currently going to get my RN next summer and I should have my LPN here in a month.

After a flurry of discussion, the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators has recently released their latest requirements (below). Once you have your RN, you will be able to start accumulating the work experience required to qualify. Good luck! We need all the good diabetes educators we can get.

The applicant must hold a current unrestricted United States license or registration as a Registered Nurse, Dietitian, Pharmacist, Physician, Physician Assistant, Podiatrist, Physical Therapist, or Occupational Therapist, OR be a health care professional with a minimum of a master’s degree from a United States college or university in one of the following areas of health care practice: nutrition, social work, clinical psychology, exercise physiology, health education or public health.

After meeting education requirements and before applying for the Certification Examination, the applicant must have a minimum of two (2) calendar years experience in direct diabetes patient and self-management education.

Within those two years, or up to five (5) calendar years prior to the date of application for the examination, the applicant must have worked a minimum of 1000 hours in direct diabetes patient and self-management education.

The applicant must be engaged in the practice of direct diabetes patient and self-management education at the time of the application for the Certification Examination.

The applicant must complete and submit a current application for the Certification Examination for Diabetes Educators and pay the examination fee.

When you’re ready to read more about applying, the Certification Board is on-line at http://www.ncbde.org/.

BB