What I would like to do with my life :)

hello everyone!!!

soooo ive been doing some thinking and i would like all of yalls opinions! i would really like to give back and i am a very giving person and i feel i have finally come to a conclusion of what i would like to do! become a diabetes educator and/or a dietician. i was wondering if any one here is one of these :slight_smile: i need allll the advice i can get!!! so spread the word because i need opinions! hope everyone is doing well and i hope to hear from you soon!!

What’s your education level? What’s your passion? Which topics did you excel at in school? Which books did you love reading? If you can give us some info about yourself then it would be helpful in giving you input.

i went to a year of college and then to beauty school. my passion is definately to help people. i would give a limb for a complete stranger. i was definately a math and science girl in school. i would really like to do something with diabetes. i remember being in the hospital at age 19 and not knowing what was going on. i just wanted someone there who knew what was happening to me and could understand because they had been in my shoes. thats what i want to do for children! thats my passion!

Considering that you call yourself a math and science girl, I would suggest that you should aim high and see where it takes you. Since you’re in Indianapolis, consider contacting the people on this page by getting an appointment and getting a face-to-face meeting. Tell them about your passion and ask them how you can get involved in their research. At the least, they will connect you with people who might be able to guide you better.

that’s great! we need more diabetes educators that have the experience of diabetes, not just the text book answers! go for it!

I say go for it girl! Like I told you the other day I have been thinking about doing the same thing for a while and didnt really know where to begin. I think its a great idea because I was the same as you at 20 years old and having this life changing thing happen to me and the care, advice and ed I got was horrible!

thanks everyone for your input! i will definately look into it! and ash if you wanna come with when i go let me know :slight_smile: or if you want to do it together so we’re not in this alone! love to you all!

Brea;

Do not rule out being a Physicians Assistant. PA’s write scripts and some specialize in diabetic education. in most places it is a five year program and really in Indiana becuase of the ability to wrote scripts, PA’s are replacing DE’s in many offices.

rick phillips.

do it you can that would great

I think this is great! Most CDEs we have dealt with have been R.Ns. It would be nice to have more CDEs with a nutritionist background since nutrition is such a huge part of dealing with diabetes. And saying this from the perspective of a caretaker of a child with Type 1. I think nutrition for these children is underemphasized. More common: You can eat anything you want and just cover it with insulin, LOL. Not exactly true.

Hi Brea. I think whichever your choose would be just great. You can’t get anything more fulfilling them helping others. I wish you the very best.

Hi Brea, I think that’s awesome! I’ve been thinking about going for the CDE as well. I have a BS in Kinesiology (exercise schience) and I can go for my masters in exercise physioplogy and get get the CDE that way. Let me know what you decide! :slight_smile:

hello, Brea, I did an advanced search on the Members pages for all the TuD members who said they were CDEs, and got these 13 results. Interesting, none of them have posted a picture of themselves.

Brea, great idea, now it seems that the CDE is forced to teach the ADA way from personal experience and reading what at least one wrote here. although I was told by a MD that is also a CDE that this is not the case, so hopefully you would be able to share with your patients that there is more than one way to control this and they need to find the way that works for them.

Not sure if my comment posted. I definitely going to tell you to go for either of those two things. Having diabetes will make you a great educator. I have condisered this, as well, at my age. However it is not doable. Looking for education that I can do on line and still work full time. Let me know what you find out.