Why Do CDEs Not Have Sleep Apnea Training?

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After asking several certified diabeteseducators (CDEs) whether they have training for sleep apnea, I haveto ask why they are so secretive about their training. Even my CDErelative would only answer that her practice has sent them to sometraining. Of five others I asked this question of, only one wouldsay that she has some training because the practice she worked forsent her to a couple of classes.
Why are CDEs so secretive about theirtraining? It would seem to be something they should be proud todiscuss for people to understand why they display the acronym behindtheir names; and limit the profession by making it difficult forpeople to gain access to the title. Registered nurses, physicianassistants, doctors, and pharmacists are not that secretive and willgenerally answer questions about their continuing education and eventheir education.
This begs another question, is thetraining so poor that they do not want to acknowledge what they doknow and that they take classes and webinars solely to be able tocheck the boxes for recertification? Are they getting anything fromthese classes or webinars that is useful? I have tried on more thanone occasion to ask questions of CDEs, but I seldom get a straightanswer. Is this part of their training not to answer questions abouttheir training? Or, is it that they are ashamed of their continuingeducation.
Those that are willing to talk divertthe questions to their core training. Nurses will talk about theireducation; pharmacists will talk about their education; but try toget information about the CDE training is like talking to theproverbial brick wall. Even my relative will not answer certainquestions although she will for some after she is sure I will not useher response in a blog. I asked her if I am asking the wrongquestions, and she did say I was asking the right questions and thatI was being polite in the way I asked most questions.
She did comment that sometimes mywriting was a little blunt, but occasionally she could understand thereason behind it and the need for showing my frustration. I did tellher to read this blog, as I am very frustrated that the current AADEhead is apparently alone in her ivory tower and those that answer toher are painting a picture that is not representative of what isgoing on in the trenches.
It is difficult to make changes whenyou are not given the truth or a true picture of what is happening atthe lower levels. The blog I wrote back on October 6, 2011 is stillas applicable today, if not more important. In the last paragraph, Imade mention of a few thousand CDEs that needed our support, but inwhat has happened recently, maybe I should change that to a fewhundreds.
Now do not misunderstand, I do not seethe need for CDEs to be experts in sleep medicine. They should learnto ask the right questions about sleep and recognize the symptoms ofsleep apnea. Then they should recommend to the doctor that he/sheinvestigate further and possibly refer the patient to a sleepspecialist. Because many of the people with type 2 diabetes (above40 percent for combined men and women) have sleep apnea, this shouldbe necessary in CDE training.
Since I am not able to say with anycertainty that they have training about sleep apnea or are requiredto have training, this is the reason for wording the title the way Idid.
Now that I have had my say, I will turnthis around and say I was pleasantly surprised when I sent an emailto the AACE education division. I received a prompt reply with a lotof information to research and get my head around. I was suppliedwith information about a sleep apnea resource for CDEs. Since I donot have a copy of the book, I will copy the description from theAADE site.
“Many resources address majorcomplications of diabetes, such as heart disease, stroke, blindness,and kidney disease. Managing Diabetes: Complications andComorbidities focuses on the number of conditions andcomorbidities that affect an individual's activities of daily living.Help your patients learn to recognize the early signs of changes thatcan lead to these conditions so together you can work to prevent ordelay their onset.”
“Learn and EarnFree continuing education (CE) fornurses, dietitians, and pharmacists included with book purchase. Whenyou purchase the book, the post-test will be uploaded to your onlinelearning portal. You have two opportunities to pass the post-test andreceive 4.5 CEs. One post-test is allowed per book purchase.”
“Your Price: $ 24.95, MemberPrice: $ 19.95” This was published in January 2012 by theAADE, therefore do not look for this in your bookstore or favoriteonline bookseller.
I will take the word from the personcorresponding with me that the topic of sleep apnea is included sincethe topic is not included in the description.  The site has been totally revamped andthe URL that I had is not longer valid. I am just happy I have asmuch information as I did get.