When renewing by Renewal Pathway 1 and 3, you will need to earn a minimum of 75 CE hours during your accrual cycle. You can do this by only accruing 75 CE hours under the “Formal Activities” or you can mix and match with “Formal” and “Expanded Activities.”

Formal activities include:

• Continuing education courses
• Independent study
• Seminars
• Online programs
• Workshops
• Telephonic or video conference programs
• Conferences

Expanded activities include:

• Academic courses
• Presentations or lectures led by the certificant
• Publications – articles or books written by the certificant
• Service as a Mentor in CBDCES’s Mentorship Program

If you are using “Expanded Activities,” there are limits on each “Expanded Activity,” and the maximum hours you can claim during your accrual cycle is 30 CE hours from the “Expanded Activities” Category.

Feel free to mix and match from both the “Formal” and “Expanded” categories as long as at least 45 hours of CE activities fall under the “Formal” category. 

Formal Category CE Requirements

The Activities in the “Formal” Category must meet identified requirements. All of the 75 CE hours can be accrued under the “Formal” category.

Continuing Education Hour Defined: – All continuing education activities must be reported in clock hours. One clock hour equals 60 minutes.

For the “Formal” category of continuing education, activities must be:

• Provided by or approved by a provider on the CBDCE List of Recognized Providers.
  • *Since Diabetes Education Services is Accredited by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), all of our courses can be applied toward your CDCES Renewal.
• Applicable to diabetes. All subject matter on the Certification Exam Content Outline is considered applicable.
• Completed before the application deadline and before submitting the application, or by December 15 if using the Grace Period.
• At a professional level that enhances the quality and effectiveness of the practice of diabetes care and education.

For more details on the qualifying activities, review Guidelines for Reporting Continuing Education Activities and the Renewal Handbook.

Of course, for any additional questions or special situations, we recommend you visit the CBDCE Website or check out the links toward the end of the article.

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 diabetes certification exams. CBDCE & ADCES does not endorse any preparatory or review materials for the certification exams, except for those published by CBDCE & ADCES.

**To satisfy the requirement for renewal of certification by continuing education for the Certification Board for Diabetes Care & Education (CBDCE), continuing education activities must be applicable to diabetes and approved by a provider on the CBDCE List of Recognized Providers (www.ncbde.org). CBDCE does not approve continuing education.

Diabetes Education Services is accredited/approved by the Commission of Dietetic Registration which is on the list of CBDCE Recognized Providers.