There is so much to keep track of when it comes to diabetes medication updates and additions. That’s why Coach Beverly and Bryanna are scouring articles and announcements to keep our Medication PocketCards relevant and up-to-date for our community.

We work hard to keep our content current!

We update our downloadable electronic PocketCards on our CDCES Coach app and website each time we announce a medication update.

Laminated PocketCards are updated and ready to be delivered to you!

Purchase yours today and take advantage of our quantity discounts! Great holiday gift!

3 PocketCard Updates

Since our last announcement, there have been three changes.

The GLP-1 RA, dulaglutide, (Trulicity), has two new higher doses. Until now, the approved doses for Trulicity were 0.75mg and 1.5 mg. The expanded dosing will include a 3.0 mg and 4.5 mg weekly Trulicity dose. Based on recent research, by increasing the dose to 4.5 mgs participants experienced an average weight loss of 10.4 pounds and a 1.9% drop in A1c. Of course, the increased dose is associated with nausea and GI upset, so a gradual titration up to this higher dose should be considered.

There is a new biosimilar basal insulin called Semglee.
One of our scholarship recipients, Mercy Edziah, alerted us to the addition of yet another biosimilar glargine insulin. Semglee is available in a 10 mL vial or 3mL prefilled pens. This new insulin is competitively priced. Semglee is listed at $98.65 per 10mL vial and $147.98 for a box of five pens.

Thank you to Mercy and our community, for sharing news with us so we can pass it along to others.

Canagliflozin (Invokana) removed the black box warning. Previously, the FDA had announced in 2017 that people on canagliflozin, an SGLT-2 Inhibitor, had an increased risk of lower extremity amputation. In August 2020, the FDA removed that black box warning.

Safety information from recent clinical trials suggests that the risk of amputation, while still increased with canagliflozin, is lower than previously described, particularly when appropriately monitored. Therefore, the FDA concluded that the Boxed Warning should be removed

Canagliflozin and 2 of the other of the SGLT-2 Inhibitors, dapagliflozin and Empagliflozin, have demonstrated additional heart- and kidney-related benefits. They are FDA approved to reduce the risk of major heart-related events such as heart attack, stroke, or death in people with type 2 diabetes who have known heart disease. They are also approved to reduce the risk of end-stage kidney disease, worsening of kidney function, and heart failure in certain people with type 2 diabetes and diabetic kidney disease.

We hope you find these Pocketcards as an easy-to-use resource that is helpful in your clinical practice and exam preparation.

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Join Coach Beverly and Alan Parsa, MD virtually in Hawaii for the Best Diabetes Care For The Frail and Elderly Webinar! 

Are you interested in learning about diabetes care for the frail and elderly?  Then consider attending this all-day conference that synthesizes exciting findings and new elements that you can incorporate into your daily practice.  Through dynamic presentations and case studies, we will provide you with creative strategies to take your practice to the next level.  In addition, small group activities allow participants to network and share problem-solving strategies.  The goal of this program is to provide cutting edge information that has real-life application.  We want each participant to leave the seminar feeling more empowered and confident advocating for excellence in diabetes care.

Registration Price:
$20 for ADCES members – $40 for non-ADCES members – 6.5 CEs

Click here to register. – Download flyer here.

• October 24, 2020
  • 9 am to 10 am – Hyperosmolar Hyperglycemic Non-Ketotic Syndrome (HHS) with Alan Parsa, MD
  • 10 am to 11:15 am – Overview – Aging Population and Diabetes with Beverly Thomassian, RN
• October 31, 2020
  • 9 am to 11:15 am – Treatment Goals, Type 2 Medications and Safety Concerns for Older Adults with Beverly Thomassian, RN
• November 7, 2020
  • 9 am to 11:15 am – Pharmacologic Approaches to Manage Diabetes and Co-Conditions and Lifestyle Recommendations for the Older Adult with Beverly Thomassian, RN

Who Should Attend?

This course is designed for all health care professionals including providers, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, and educators who want to:

• Get re-energized about diabetes care and education
• Enjoy a comprehensive review of diabetes care in the frail and elderly
• Get updates on treatment strategies for diabetes care in the frail and elderly
• Learn about lifestyle recommendations for the older adult

Requirements for Successful Completion:  Participants should try to be in attendance for all three webinars, complete and submit the program evaluation at the conclusion of each webinar.  Partial CE hours (2.25 CE hours) can be awarded per webinar if participants complete and submit the program evaluation.  The three webinars will be recorded for later viewing but NO CE hours will be awarded for viewing of the recorded webinars.

Registration Price:
$20 for ADCES members – $40 for non-ADCES members – 6.5 CEs

Click here to register. – Download flyer here.

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Accreditation: Diabetes Education Services is an approved provider by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider 12640, and Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), Provider DI002. Since these programs are approved by the CDR it satisfies the CE requirements for the CDCES regardless of your profession.*  

The use of DES products does not guarantee the successful passage of the CDCES exam. CBDCE does not endorse any preparatory or review materials for the CDCES exam, except for those published by CBDCE.

Our new Diabetes Cheat Sheets are available on our CDCES Coach app!

We know how helpful these resources are for busy diabetes educations specialists so we wanted to make accessing them even easier!

If you don’t have it already, you can download our free CDCES Coach app and view or print the Cheat Sheets directly from the app.

These sheets and cards include information to study for certification exams and to use in your clinical setting. Plus, we have included teaching sheets for people with diabetes.

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Studying for the CDCES Exam?
Join us for our free Preparing for the CDCES Exam Webinar on October 1st at 11:30 am

FREE webinar, October 1, 2020, from 11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.  (PST)

Unsure about updates for the 2020 exam?

Coach Beverly offers this FREE webinar to help get you to prepare for the CDCES Exam. All her tips and tricks are meant to ease your mind and reflect the updates to the CDCES content outline.

Topics Covered Include:

• Implications of new certification name, CDCES for our specialty
• Exam requirement updates for 2020
• Exam eligibility and test format
• Strategies to succeed along with a review of study tips and test-taking tactics.
• We will review sample test questions and the reasoning behind choosing the right answers.
• Learn how to focus your time and prepare to take the CDCES Exam. We provide plenty of sample test questions and test-taking tips!

Instructor: Beverly Thomassian RN, MPH, CDCES, BC-ADM is a working educator who has passed her CDCES Exam 6 times. She is a nationally recognized diabetes expert for over 25 years.

See our Preparing for CDCES Resource Page >>

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Accreditation: Diabetes Education Services is an approved provider by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider 12640, and Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), Provider DI002. Since these programs are approved by the CDR it satisfies the CE requirements for the CDCES regardless of your profession.*  

The use of DES products does not guarantee the successful passage of the CDCES exam. CBDCE does not endorse any preparatory or review materials for the CDCES exam, except for those published by CBDCE.

We received dozens of applications for our Making a Difference Scholarship. Even better, an anonymous donor generously contributed two additional scholarships, so we able to award four scholarships in total. Each scholar winner is awarded CDCES Deluxe Online Prep Bundle | 44+ CEs plus additional study tools (a value of over $450) to acknowledge their service.

It was a great personal joy for our team to read these scholarship applications. Each applicant is serving communities with a great need and going “above and beyond” to promote and provide accessible diabetes care and education. It is always a very difficult decision for all of the judges, and we read each application in careful detail considering the financial need, impact, volunteerism, and readiness to take the CDCES exam.

We greatly appreciate the good work of all the applicants and thank them for their service!

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Making a Difference Scholarships

We are excited to recognize and reward diabetes advocates who are making a difference in their community while working toward certification (CDCES). In recognition of health disparities, this award considers health care professionals whose daily actions, volunteer activities and advocacy work is making a significant difference in improving the health of their people.

We are excited to announce our “Making a Difference” scholarship winners, Rachel Patton and Mercy Edziah.

Diabetes Educator Flower Scholarships awarded by a generous donor, this new annual Flower Scholarship awards two health care professionals who are taking a leadership role in making significant contributions to under-served communities through their work and volunteer activities. Two of our applicants are living examples of giving back to their communities and are recognized for their hard work, grit, and hope.

We are pleased to announce our Flower Diabetes Educator Scholarship winners, Alexa Guzman and Chinethia Johnson. Learn about the Flower Scholarship here.

Rachel Patton is a trailblazer and fierce advocate for those in need

Rachel works in a non-profit community health center where she serves primarily with people who are un/underinsured, have Medicaid, or Medicare. In her work, she supports people living with diabetes who have barriers in glucose control due to houselessness or depression.

?She has advocated for the accessibility of continuous glucose monitors and other supplies at no or reduced cost for those she works with, even taking the time to call pharmacies to find ways to make supplies more affordable. At community events and health fairs, she has offered her time and expertise to raise awareness about diabetes. She has also created recipe booklets with those in mind who have limited cooking utensils, for example, heart-healthy crockpot recipes that uses items like mugs or spoons to measure ingredients.

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Mercy Edziah combines culture, food and cooking classes

Mercy volunteers at a local hospital where she is passionate about increasing her cultural intelligence while working with people living with diabetes from diverse backgrounds. There she leads group classes, peer-to-peer support groups, along with individual sessions.

?Mercy also brings her experience with agriculture and food service to support the hospital’s greenhouse that provides fresh produce for the hospital’s weekly farmer’s market and cooking classes offered in the hospital’s wellness center. In her practice, she individualizes her care plans that match each individual’s access and needs. She is an advocate and pillar of support for people living with diabetes within her community.

Alexa Guzman uses Food Pharmacy Prescriptions to promote health.

Alexa volunteers with her local church and other local health centers to empower her community through education on diabetes management and prevention. In her practice, she works with people who have poor social determinants of health, and little to no access to care.

She is passionate about food accessibility and has adopted the concept of a “Food Pharmacy.” In this practice philosophy, she prescribes food plans that anchor on individual access and that are culturally sensitive. She believes her recommendations should not be confined to only an ”American diet.” Her goal of becoming a CDCES will allow her to expand her impact of providing a high level of care that is realistic and obtainable to those within her community.

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Chinethia Johnson is a volunteer extraordinaire.

For Chinethia, diabetes is a disease that holds a personal significance in her heart. Because of her experience with the first-hand impacts of diabetes, she is driven to provide education and support the those she holds dear.

Each month she spends over 40 hours volunteering her time and knowledge either in person, over Zoom or the phone, to people living with diabetes or those who want to learn more about prevention. Outside of the inspiring number of hours she spends each month volunteering, she also juggles being a case manager, a mother, and a grandmother, all while being in school working to obtain her masters in nursing.

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Please enjoy these FREE resources that we have put together for you:

• Diabetes Cheat Sheets
• Diabetes Blog Bytes
• Medication PocketCards
• 10 Steps to Succeed
• CDCES Coach App
• Free Webinars hosted by Coach Beverly
• Question of the Week
• Free Diabetes Article Library

See Full Free Resource Catalog

We are excited to announce the new Diabetes Flower Scholarship. We are awarding one of these scholarship this year, valued at $1000. This scholarship is available due to the generous contribution of an anonymous colleague, friend, co-instructor, and mentor.

Our donor worked as a Nurse Practitioner and Diabetes Specialist, serving her community, plus mentoring health care professionals about diabetes for over 30 years.

With the Flower Diabetes Educator Scholarship, she wants to keep investing in the health of our future by supporting future diabetes educators.

Her vision is to increase diversity in the diabetes education workforce by supporting diabetes nurse educators who come from under-served communities. By increasing the number of diabetes educators who represent the population demographics of those living with diabetes, we can make more meaningful connections on an individual and community level while promoting best care.

Eligibility for Flower Scholarship

To be eligible for these scholarships, the U.S. health care professional is a diabetes nurse educator who comes from an under-served community and is providing care and education to communities that lack access to Diabetes Specialists and health care resources. Applicants will also be working toward certification (CDCES) within the next year and preference is given to those facing financial hardships that are interfering with their ability to pursue this dream.

The Flower Scholarship is valued at $1000 and includes:

• Registration for DiabetesEd Specialist Conference in San Diego, October 6-8, 2021 (value $599)
• 2 nights stay at Conference Site (Liberty Station Marriott), valued at $400.

Flower Scholarship

The Flower Scholarship is a tribute to our donor’s last name, which translates to flower. The flower is a perfect symbol for this scholarship that aims to support the growth of novice diabetes educators into Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists.

Flowers are a symbol of hope and can be found growing in the most unexpected places, including harsh cities and forgotten spaces. With just a little sunlight and water, they have the ability to thrive in even the most difficult situations and shine their fierce beauty. Given a chance, as these flowers are tended to and nurtured, they grow stronger and brighter, spreading their beauty to new places to give people hope. These resilient flowering seeds perpetuate the opportunity for a future generation of diabetes specialists.

We know that a great resource page full of accurate and helpful cheat sheets can save busy diabetes specialists time and energy.

That’s why we have put together our entire list of cheat sheets so you can access them with ease.

These sheets and cards include information to study for certification exams and to use in your clinical setting. Plus, we have included teaching sheets for people with diabetes.

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Our Summer 2020 Boot Camp begins September 16th!

In each webinar, either Coach Beverly, Dr. Isaacs, or Ms. Armstrong, highlight the critical content of each topic area, so you can focus your study time most efficiently. They also launch multiple poll questions to help participants focus on key concepts and assess their knowledge while learning the best test-taking strategies. 

2020 Boot Camp Live Stream Webinar Schedule with Coach Beverly

All courses air at 11:30 a.m. (PST)

1. Diabetes – Not Just Hyperglycemia | Sept 16
2. ADA Standards of Care | Sept 23
3. Insulin Therapy – From Basal/Bolus to Pattern Management | Sept 30
4. Insulin Intensive – Monitoring, Sick Days, Lower Extremities | Oct 7
5. Meds for Type 2 | Oct 14
6. Exercise and Preventing Microvascular Complications | Oct 21
7. Coping & Behavior Change | Oct 28
8. “The Big Finish” Test Taking Boot Camp | Nov 4

Can’t make it live?
No worries! All video presentations and podcasts will be available now on-demand.

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Accreditation: Diabetes Education Services is an approved provider by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider 12640, and Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), Provider DI002. Since these programs are approved by the CDR it satisfies the CE requirements for the CDCES regardless of your profession.*  

The use of DES products does not guarantee the successful passage of the CDCES exam. CBDCE does not endorse any preparatory or review materials for the CDCES exam, except for those published by CBDCE.

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FREE webinar, September 3, 2020, from 11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.  (PST)

Unsure about updates for the 2020 exam?

Coach Beverly offers this FREE webinar to help get you to prepare for the CDCES Exam. All her tips and tricks are meant to ease your mind and reflect the updates to the CDCES content outline.

Topics Covered Include:

• Implications of new certification name, CDCES for our specialty
• Exam requirement updates for 2020
• Exam eligibility and test format
• Strategies to succeed along with a review of study tips and test-taking tactics.
• We will review sample test questions and the reasoning behind choosing the right answers.
• Learn how to focus your time and prepare to take the CDCES Exam. We provide plenty of sample test questions and test-taking tips!

Instructor: Beverly Thomassian RN, MPH, CDCES, BC-ADM is a working educator who has passed her CDCES Exam 6 times. She is a nationally recognized diabetes expert for over 25 years.

See our Preparing for CDCES Resource Page >>

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Test Taking Toolkit (220+ practice questions) 

Whether you are preparing for the updated CDCES or BC-ADM exam, this test-taking toolkit is designed to prepare you for success.

This toolkit includes two courses with over 220 practice questions to help you prepare and simulate the exam.

• ADA Standards Test Taking Tips
• Preparing for CDCES Practice Exam

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Sign up for Diabetes Blog Bytes – we post one daily Blog Byte from Monday to Friday. And of course, Tuesday is our Question of the Week. It’s Informative and FREE!  Sign up below!

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Accreditation: Diabetes Education Services is an approved provider by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider 12640, and Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), Provider DI002. Since these programs are approved by the CDR it satisfies the CE requirements for the CDCES regardless of your profession.*  

The use of DES products does not guarantee the successful passage of the CDCES exam. CBDCE does not endorse any preparatory or review materials for the CDCES exam, except for those published by CBDCE.

As we enter fire and storm season, it’s always a good idea to think ahead and be prepared for disaster. In addition to the items listed below, make sure to pack hand sanitizer, wipes, and masks due to the current pandemic. Also, bring your own pillow and bedding in case you need to spend time in a shelter.

For any emergency scenario, it’s important to have an emergency preparedness plan. For people living with diabetes, a “diabetes kit” is an important part of emergency preparedness. Diabetes Disaster Response Coalition (DDRC) has put together great resources to help people with diabetes be prepared so that no one is caught unaware without medication.

DDRC’s Diabetes Kit checklist includes needed supplies, but more importantly, information that should be written down and kept in a waterproof container for emergency situations where a health care provider could find it and make informed emergency treatment decisions.

Download, Share and Personalize this Emergency Checklist

Emergency Evacuation-Items to Gather for People with Diabetes
We thought this list was a helpful way to prioritize what items to grab given different time frame limitations. We found it online, and customized it for people with diabetes. It is available in Word or PDF. Thank you for sharing with your colleagues and community.

• Emergency List that you can Customize in a Word Doc
• Emergency List as a PDF to print out

• Emergency List that you can Customize in a Word Doc
• Emergency List as a PDF to print out

1-800-DIABETES (800-342-2383) is an excellent referral resource for people with diabetes to call toll free for updates on accessing medical support during an emergency.

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Join live August 26th from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm (PST)

Watch for Free or 1.5 CEs | $29.00

This program provides you with a succinct overview of the latest standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME) and Support Programs. It also provides insights into the exam philosophy and also highlights critical content areas.

Topics include:

• Describe steps involved in setting up a DSMES Program
• List DSMES program essentials
• Discuss marketing strategies for success

Perfect for those planning to take the CDCES or BC-ADM or for those seeking a Standards update.

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We are now offering the option to join the Level 2 Webinars live stream for free!

“Excellent as usual! Love Bev’s passion and energy. Thank you for all you do, I appreciate you plenty!! You guys are the absolute best as offering individuals that are not in need of CEs the opportunity to benefit by listening to the content without financial strain is huge, especially during these unprecedented times of furlough/layoff. Thank you and stay well”

Free viewing without CEs – This option is available for those who want to join the live stream of the Level 2 webinars(s), but don’t need CEs. More info here.

Need CEs? You can purchase the course, which includes the live stream webinar, recorded on-demand videos, podcasts, handouts, and additional resources. Register here.

Watch for FREE recorded webinar (no CEs).

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Sign up for Diabetes Blog Bytes – we post one daily Blog Byte from Monday to Friday. And of course, Tuesday is our Question of the Week. It’s Informative and FREE!  Sign up below!

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Accreditation: Diabetes Education Services is an approved provider by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider 12640, and Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), Provider DI002. Since these programs are approved by the CDR it satisfies the CE requirements for the CDCES regardless of your profession.*  

The use of DES products does not guarantee the successful passage of the CDCES exam. CBDCE does not endorse any preparatory or review materials for the CDCES exam, except for those published by CBDCE.