Regardless of their chosen fields or places of employment, all health care professionals (HCPs) need to be competent in the care of people with diabetes. There is no question that there is a worldwide diabetes pandemic.¹ We rely on diabetes educators within all of the professions (nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, and behaviorists) as well as endocrinologists and other physicians who specialize in diabetes to lead the charge against this menace. But in reality, it is not only such diabetes specialists, but also HCPs of all sorts who will come into contact with patients with diabetes or be in a position to affect the incidence of diabetes by encouraging lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of developing diabetes.

Evidence-based standards for diabetes care and its associated risk factors have been establish and disseminated, yet limited progress has been made in reducing the risk factors associated with the complications of diabetes.² Diabetes is a complex disease, and there are multiple reasons why the established patient targets for blood pressure, lipid, and glucose levels have not been met. These include but are not limited to medication costs, the burden of living with a chronic disease, systems issues related to the delivery of care, lack of patient education, limited provider time, and failure of providers to maximize medication …