Are you preparing for your CDE exam? Have you taken the CDE exam recently? How did it go? If you recently took it, what did you do to prepare? What were the most helpful things?
I took it twice; once after working as a diabetes educator for about 2 years and 5 years later for re-certification. Each time, I read the entire Core Curriculum and did the post-test questions for each chapter. We had little study group sessions in my office with those of us who were preparing, where we discussed the various answers for the quizzes and worked through challenges we were having. That was helpful since there was a dietitian, nurse, and myself (physical therapist) taking the exam at the same time. Medications and carbohydrate to insulin ratios were tough for me and the exercise information was more of a challenge for them.
The Art and Science of Diabetes Self-Management Education Desk Reference replaced the old Core Curriculum, and it seems like it would be very useful. Who has used this to learn all about diabetes education or to study for the exam? Did you also use the Diabetes Education Review Guide? What did you think? Any tips you could share for others preparing for the exam?
Before I took the exam for the first time, I took the Core Concepts® course. I found it to be extremely helpful. Not only did the instructors go over a great deal of information, explaining it so we could all grasp the concepts, but they also presented case studies to work through together and covered test-taking strategies. Since it had been many years since I took a standardized-type test, and the first time I was going to sit for this exam, that was incredibly helpful. Who took the Core Concepts course recently in preparation for the exam? What did you think? And, who has taken the course for another reason? I bet it would be really useful to someone entering the field, especially if they aren’t part of a team of educators. If you think this might be helpful for you, check out the upcoming courses.
AADE has several other materials and programs that could help prepare for life as a diabetes educator and for taking the exam. The ABCs of Diabetes Education is a 6-module course that you do on-line, at your own pace. Who has done this? Who would most benefit from the material? I think it is great that it is done whenever and wherever you want. That certainly fits our lives!
It has now been 7 years since I took the CDE exam. If you took it recently, throw out advice to those who are preparing. And, if you are preparing, what questions do you have? What would be helpful for you to know? Let’s work together to get lots of us to that next level of becoming a Certified Diabetes Educator!