Health Care For Diabetes: Continuing Education and Research for Better Options

When you're dealing with a disease that requires prolonged care and maintenance like diabetes, it is important that you also invest some time and effort in continuing education.  Find out what sources are available for you whether you're a professional, group or individual aiming to improve and expand your knowledge about diabetes, its nature and treatment.

The reason why today's diabetes care and treatment allows most people to live healthy, active lives is due to continuing education.  When a disease has no cure and tends to be long-term and recurring, the most important weapon against it is knowledge.  With continuing education, diabetes patients can look forward to better treatment, cost-effective care and improved health management.

What is continuing education and why is it important?

Continuing education usually refers to a broad range of learning activities and training programs that aim to improve the knowledge and skills of an individual about a certain subject or topic, which in this case is diabetes.

In formal terms, continuing education is like adult education because it usually extends beyond undergraduate and university studies.  However, continuing education can also include other trainings and learning programs, such as those achieved through vocational and certification training.  It may be achieved through formal and traditional classroom learning, tutorial, correspondence or online courses.

How professionals can participate in continuing education courses

There are a variety of courses available for health care providers, most of which are offered as specialized learning, depending on the individual's field of specialization.  Accreditation and earned credits for the continuing education of physicians, for example, are different for nurses, psychologists or podiatrists.

To earn credits for taking continuing education courses in diabetes, the learning provider must be accredited by the ACCME or Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education.  Nurse practitioners, for example, should look for courses or course providers who are approved by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners while psychologists should find courses approved by the American Psychological Association.

This is to ensure that courses and activities included in the continuing education program are relevant and duly approved.  To encourage quality among its participants, these courses can only be credited depending on the extent of the individual's participation in the given activities.

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Where to obtain continuing education in diabetes

The premier source for diabetes continuing education is the ADA or American Diabetes Association at www.diabetes.org.  This organization provides professional education through learning activities and courses that include research about diabetes.  It is also accredited by the ACCME.

Both basic research and clinical research are included in these activities, which also offer opportunities for professional networking, perfect for the continuing education of professional health care providers, psychologists and researchers. 

The ADA offers continuing education in diabetes using several learning formats and is addressed from local to national levels.  This is in conjunction with ADA's thrust to provide quality education for professional health care providers as a way to reiterate their role in the success of a diabetic patient's treatment and disease management.

The ADA also sponsors regular scientific sessions and advanced postgraduate courses.  The annual scientific sessions are offered to diabetes community members to take active part in what is considered as the largest diabetes clinical and research meeting in the world.  This includes symposia, a series of presentations, workshops, learning sessions and discussions.

The postgraduate courses are also offered each year, where advances in the management of diabetes will be discussed during general sessions or in interactive workshops.  If you wish to learn from past courses conducted by the leading experts in diabetes and diabetes treatment, the courses may be downloaded from the website for free as webcasts.

Online sources for continuing education in diabetes

Another source for continuing education online is AADE at www.diabeteseducator.org. Members can earn continuing education in diabetes credits online through a convenient and cost-effective method.  Some programs are offered for free through the sponsorship grant of some major pharmaceutical companies such as Merck, Amylin, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi-Aventis Group, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer, while others may be accessed for a minimal fee.

Many of the courses are available for both members and non-members.  More information regarding the courses and activities are available at the website, along with details on program content, learning method and type of activity required.

The quest for the most effective treatment and management of diabetes remains at the forefront of numerous medical research and studies.  Through continuing education, professionals hope to one day extend the knowledge about diabetes not only to professionals and patients but also to other members of the community in order to someday come up with a more integrated and comprehensive approach to diabetes treatment and eventually, its cure.