One of the things I look forward to each year is getting to spend time away from patients to help myself grow and become more knowledgeable for their own benefit. I'd be lying if I didn't also say it was for my benefit. As a solitary diabetes educator in my practice, I like to meet other educators and remind myself that I'm not alone in this task.
We're very lucky to have a state diabetes education conference. This year, I've been asked to write a short summary of what's being offered and why I'm excited to be attending.
- Diabetes has Heart and Lipids with Diabetes – My patients find some of the new information on heart health very confusing. Is saturated fat really bad for them? Or is it more the Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio in fats? Is cholesterol raising their cholesterol?
- Hypertension: What Every Diabetes Educator Should Know - I'm glad they're going to tell me because if I'm being honest - this is not something I address with patients. Occasionally I review low sodium diet recommendations. But what about the studies showing certain ethnicities are not at a high risk for sodium retention? Is every individual to be assumed sodium sensitive?
- State of the Art: The Artificial Pancreas - I just like how futuristic this sounds. It may be here before we know it. I certainly don't want to be the last to know.
- Managing Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: Preparing for Discharge – Very relevant for those of us working with patients in hospital settings.
- The Role of Plant-Based Diets for Diabetes: Vegetarians are one of my biggest struggles in diabetes management training. I feel like so many of them are not cooking or using alternative protein sources. Their diets consisting mostly of grains/beans/legumes/bread are out of this world in carbohydrate content. Any help with that population would be amazing.
- Saturated Fat: To Eat or Not to Eat - I have a lot of friends who lift weights and eat paleo that think the scare tactics for saturated fat are completely unnecessary. Their lab values back up their ideas...
- Exercise vs Activity: What's the Evidence? - Slower metabolisms with aging is mainly related to loss of lean body mass - but my patients think maybe there's a secret berry or shake they can take to speed up their metabolism. I think exercise might be the most effective treatment.
- Crack the Case - Dr. Jabbour is very well known in Philadelphia. I'm looking forward to hearing him speak.
- Our Most Vulnerable Population: Identifying Cultural Disparities - Not every problem can be solved using the exact same tools and methods. Cultural differences can be incorporated into diabetes education when diabetes educators are aware of the issues involved.
- Hands on Educational Strategies that Make an Impact - Time to learn some creative approaches to diabetes education and make it memorable.
I'm excited for all of the lectures, but I'm even more excited to meet the other educators and healthcare professionals working in Pennsylvania around me. I hope to see you there!