How to Become a Certified Diabetes Educator

A Certified Diabetes Educator is a health professional, certified by the National Certification Board of Diabetes Educators (NDBDE), who teaches self-management techniques to patients diagnosed with diabetes.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Current license and registration as a health professional At least two years' experience in diabetes self-management education; this experience must include at least 1,000 hours in diabetes education Current employment as a diabetes educator at least four hours per week Application for certification from the National Certification Board of Diabetes Educators $350 application fee

Application

1. The NCBDE requires that a person applying for certification as a Certified Diabetes Educator fulfill certain eligibility requirements. At a minimum, you must be licensed and registered as a health professional. The NCBDE will accept licensed health professionals from the following disciplines: clinical psychology, registered nursing, occupational therapy, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician, podiatry, dietitian, physician's assistant, exercise physiologist or healthcare professional with a master's degree in social work, nutrition, health education or public health. If using a master's degree in nutrition, health education or public health as the qualifying education requirement, the degree must have been completed no more than five years before the date of application. For example, if you applied in spring 2009, your degree must have been earned after spring 2004.

2. The NCBDE also requires an applicant have practical experience in diabetes education. This must include two years' experience as a diabetes self-management educator, covering at least 1,000 hours, and current employment as a diabetes educator (at least four hours per week). Diabetes-related work in the course of other professional duties, volunteer work, course work done as a student or educating other health professionals on diabetes management do not qualify as practical experience. To see if your experience meets the practical experience requirement, see the list of acceptable and unacceptable experience in the Certification Handbook for Diabetes Educators (see Resources).

3. If you meet the eligibility and practice experience requirements, you can apply for the Certified Diabetes Educator Examination. The NCBDE offers two examination windows each year: May-June and November-December. The deadline for the May-June test is March 15. The deadline for the November-December test is September 15. You can apply online or submit a paper application. To apply online, visit www.goAMP.com and click on the Candidates tab. If applying online, you must pay the $350 examination fee by credit card. The NCBDE accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. To apply by paper, download the application at www.ncbde.org. You can also obtain paper forms by emailing [e-mail], calling [phone] or faxing [phone]. The $350 fee must accompany the completed paper applications. If applying by paper, you can pay by credit card, company check, personal check, cashier's check or money order.

Examination

4. If your application is approved, the NCBDE will notify you to schedule an examination time. The examination is delivered via computer at testing centers around the United States. Testing centers are often located inside H&R Block offices. To see a list of assessment centers or driving directions, visit www.goamp.com. If you live in a U.S. territory, accommodations will be made for you at one of the international testing centers. If you reside outside the United States and want to take the test at an international testing center, you must pay a $160 fee. To take the exam, you must make an appointment. Exams are offered Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., on a first come first served basis. To schedule an exam online, visit www.goamp.com and click on the Candidates tab. You can also schedule an appointment by phone by calling [phone]. When scheduling an exam, you must provide the testing location, preferred time and date, and a Social Security Number. If you do not have a Social Security Number, you will be assigned an identification number. If you need to change the appointment, you may reschedule only once by calling the appointments hot line. If you need to reschedule a second time or miss your appointment, your application and fee are forfeited and you must reapply for the next testing window.

5. The examination is not based on a specific textbook; however, the NCBDE offers a sample content outline of topics that the test will cover in its Certification Handbook for Diabetes Educators. Questions will cover three topics: assessment of diabetes care, interventions and development of diabetes care plans, and diabetes-patient-education program development and administration. For a full list of topics, sample examination questions and suggested references, refer to the appendices of the Certification Handbook for Diabetes Educators.

6. To take the test, you must provide two forms of identification, including one with a photograph, and submit to fingerprinting. Acceptable forms of identification include a driver's license, a state identification card, a passport or military ID. Employment ID or student ID are not acceptable forms of identification. You may bring a hand-held battery or solar-operated calculator to your exam. Pencils will be provided. You will be assigned a carrel with a computer. Input your Social Security Number or identification number to begin.

7. The exam consists of 200 multiple-choice questions. You will have four hours to take the exam. A digital clock in the corner of the screen will notify you how much time is remaining. The computer will first walk you through a practice test. This practice will not be counted in your final score. After the practice examination is finished, you will begin the timed portion of the exam. You may choose to skip questions and come back to them later.

8. The NCBDE will notify you of your score by mail within eight weeks of your exam. Scores are not available by phone, e-mail or fax. Exam scores are reported as both a raw score and a scaled score. The raw score is the number of questions you answered correctly. The scaled score is a number between 0 and 99 that is derived from the raw score. The minimum passing scaled score is 70. If you pass the exam, the NCBDE will mail you a certificate and wallet card within three months. The certification is valid for five years. If you fail the exam, you may elect to retake the test. There are no limits on the number of times you can retake the exam, however you must resubmit an application and application fee for each retest.

Resources

• National Certification Board of Diabetes Educators
• 2009 Certification Handbook for Diabetes Educators
• American Association of Diabetes Educators

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