Why Wouldn’t You Attend AADE16?
Toby Smithson, MS, RDN, LD, CDE
By Toby Smithson, MS, RDN, LD, CDE
If you are interested in cutting edge information on diabetes care and education, why wouldn’t you attend the 2016 American Association of Diabetes Educators Annual Conference? This meeting is the only meeting geared specifically towards diabetes educators. Plain and simple, you don’t have to sift through the brochure to see which presentations meet your CEU requirements, they all do. You’ll have the potential to earn up to 31 credits!
At this meeting, there are plenty of opportunities to broaden your connections across the U.S. by participating in networking events. As you have probably discovered along your career path, networking is an important part of learning and growing in your field. And, there is no question about the location of this year’s conference in San Diego which is the ultimate travel destination!
This year, AADE has added two specialty days, Type 1 Day and Prediabetes Day. On Saturday, August 13, there will be one session in each time slot focused on a type 1 diabetes topic. Hey, a quick shout out for session S13 The Diabetes Technology Revolution: Utilizing Tools and Technology Data to Maximize their Use and Improve Patient Outcomes. I will be a member of a three-person reactor panel, along with fellow diabetes educators Gary Scheiner and Aimee Jose, after we hear presentations from leading diabetes technology and app entrepreneurs showcasing new ways educators can help clients maximize the use of their data time efficiently. I’d love to see you there.
On Sunday, August 14, Prediabetes Day, there will be one session focused on prediabetes in each time slot. These will kick off after our general session on obesity management. I know this will be a busy day in light of the increasing number of people diabetes educators are counseling with prediabetes in a widening array of settings from community-based to virtual.
Keep in mind, sessions on prediabetes and type 1 will be offered throughout the whole conference so you aren’t limited to increasing your knowledge on one day. If your focus area happens to be type 1 or prediabetes, you will have a full day of options for that target clientele.
The rest of the schedule organizes the educational sessions into six different tracks. These tracks are designed to help us advance our knowledge and skills. I’m excited about the breakout of tracks this year which include:
- Advanced Skills for Program and Business Management for Entrepreneurial Organizations
- Build Skills to Provide Diabetes Education and Support within Evolving Healthcare Systems
- Innovative Diabetes Care and Education Across Diverse Populations
- Pathophysiology, Epidemiology and Clinical Management of Prediabetes, Diabetes and Relate Chronic Conditions
- Psychosocial Issues and the Promotion of Lifestyle Behavior Change
- Use Diabetes Technologies and Connected Health Modalities to Deliver Cost Effective Care
After reviewing the lineup of topics, I hope you are now asking the question, why wouldn’t I register for AADE16?
I’d love to connect with you so I hope to see you there!
