Program Description

Clinicians are well aware of the challenges that society and the healthcare system must address in dealing with the current "epidemic" of overweight, obesity, and diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes (T2DM).  Given the recent advances in the medical understanding and treatment of this disease, a review of the demographics of the patients with this condition and its risk factors and of the current armamentarium of 11 categories of agents for treating it (many newly approved) should be both timely and useful for all healthcare providers.  This multi-media review and Roundtable Discussion with leading members of the Nurse Practitioner community in the Journal of Nurse Practitioners offers a succinct synopsis of the current state-of-the-art for recognizing and treating this contemporary healthcare challenge.

Target Audience

Clinicians and especially nurse practitioners who see and treat the contemporary population of patients with type 2 diabetes and the associated risk factors.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this program readers should be able to

• Detail the public healthcare challenge of type 2 diabetes mellitus for clinicians today, especially as it is appearing in younger and younger patients
• Review the physiologic and metabolic derangements of type 2 diabetes
• Describe the mechanisms of action of the current armamentarium of treatments for type 2 diabetes

Faculty Affiliations and Financial Disclosures

Jane Kapustin, PhD, CRNP (Chair), Assistant Dean for the Nurse Practitioner Program and the University of Maryland School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland

Dixie L. Harms, DNP, family nurse practitioner at Mercy Family Medicine of Urbandale, Iowa, and Adjunct Clinical Faculty at the University of Iowa College of Nursing, Iowa City, Iowa.

Ellie Strock, APRN-BC, ANP, Director of International Programs, Chief Education Officer, WHO Collaborating Center at the International Diabetes Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Pat M. Munz, RN, APN-C,Nurse Practitioner of Ocean Park Medical Associates in Oakhurst, New Jersey and Endocrinology Associates in Freehold, New Jersey.

The members of the faculty have no conflict of interest or relevant financial interest to declare, and the faculty does not intend to discuss investigational drugs, mechanical devices, biologics, or diagnostics not approved by the FDA for use in the United States.