Why join the course?
Nationally, there is a drive on redesigning diabetes services towards a singular pathway across the primary/secondary care interface. NHS England has identified professional education as an essential factor in the modernisation of diabetes services and has provided funding to support the training of health professionals in diabetes care.
Audience
- General Practitioners, Practice Nurses, Community Diabetes Nurses, Trainee In-patient diabetes nurses, Medical Practitioners, Oncology, Respiratory, Renal and Cardiology Community Nurse and Advanced Care Practitioners, District Nurses, Allied Health Care Professionals, Pharmacists, Junior Doctors (F1-CT2)
- Medical or nursing degree or post-licensure status as an allied health profession active for at least 2 years
- Full GMC/nursing council registration to practice
- English language proficiency
Course description
The prime aim of this programme is to provide practitioners from different specialities with the knowledge and competencies to manage, maintain, treat and/or transfer patients with diabetes to the appropriate tier of care. The outcomes will include improved personal confidence, more effective referral in the tiered structure of diabetes care, appropriate collaboration and engagement with the specialist team(s) and intelligent use of new therapies.
The course is broken into 6 key topics:
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Diagnosis and Classification
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Prevention and Risk Evaluation
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Management of Dysglycaemia
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Complications
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Complex Active Diabetes and Multi- Morbidity
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Social and Psychological Aspects of Diabetes Care.
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The mode of study is blended e-learning with an objective patient evaluation review assessment (OPERA). The course consists of 6 weeks of e-learning, with one week introduction, which will be completed in a two-month period to allow participants to learn at a variable pace.
Online discussion among peers supported by tutors will be encouraged related to case studies or specific points of interest highlighted in the course materials.
The patient journey will be developed over the course from diagnosis through the development of complications. Where relevant students will be encouraged to use or reference their own cases and professional experiences.
Students will be expected to have reviewed all the online material and will be required to pass the 2 summative quizzes before being entered into the OPERA which is the final assessment.
• increase theoretical and experiential knowledge of diabetes mellitus
• build personal confidence to assess and manage complex diabetes
• encourage inter-professional collaboration
• improve outcomes and the quality of clinical experience for the patient
Advanced knowledge and understanding
- Key pathophysiological disturbances of diabetes mellitus
- Mechanisms of risk of diabetes mellitus risk and it’s assessment
- Diagnostic criteria
- Using guidelines for diabetes care
- Pathways for treatment escalation and de-escalation.
- The inter-relation of other co-morbidities on glucose regulation
- Managing co-morbidity in patients with diabetes mellitus
- Therapeutic intelligence and personalising care
Practical skills
- Develop specific, holistic care plans for patients with diabetes likely to be seen in the participants’ own practice.
- Recommend and initiate non-insulin injectable and/or oral glucose lowering therapies.
- Provide key advice to the patient for the initiation and adjustment of insulin.
- Work collaboratively with multi-disciplinary team of specialists in a virtual and face-to-face environment
Transferable skills
- Apply the knowledge and skills acquired during the course to the participant’s own practice.
- Develop a safety-first approach to decrease adverse patient outcomes and the upward referral to hospital-based diabetes services.
- Improve communication between primary and secondary care.
- Design environments and diabetes pathways to provide safe, cost-efficient services for complex patients.
Students will access the course material online via Canvas (our Virtual Learning Environment). The course has been developed to enable students to work through the content as flexibly as possible. Quizzes and group presentations are scheduled throughout the six-week programme.
Students will need to be available virtually on specific days for the case presentations.
Schedule:
There will be an online introduction to the course via MS Teams scheduled on the 19 May 2025, Monday before the course is due to start.
Six weeks online learning plus an introduction session starts on 20 May 2025, with one day practical OPERA assessment on 7 August 2025 (onsite).
Presentations via MS Teams will be held on week 2, 4 and 6 for approximately 1.5 hours (Time: TBC).
Any individual meetings with Tutors (via MS Teams) will need to be arranged directly between the student and Tutor.
Certification
This is a credit bearing standalone module. After successful completion of the assessment, students will receive a transcript for 15 credits at Level 7.
Past students have said...
“The course was very comprehensive and covered what every healthcare professional who will work in the of diabetes needs to know. It taught me so much about the pathophysiology of diabetes as well as the complications. This course would be a huge help to healthcare professionals looking to specialise in diabetes care and management.”
“The layout and content were excellent. Understanding the basic pathophysiology to managing the patient is what I needed. The quality was good - tutorials, contents, and assignments.”
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