Methodology and feasibility of a structured education program for diabetes education in India: The National Diabetes Educator Program.

India has over 62 million people with diabetes. Unfortunately, there are no trained diabetes educators in India although many are self-taught through experience. The National Diabetes Educator Program (NDEP) was initiated with the primary aim to educate and train diabetes educators in India. The first cycle of NDEP was conducted during the period June 2011 to March 2012 in 96 training centers in India and trained 1032 diabetes educators mainly drawn from various diabetes clinics across the country. Structured modules were taught by diabetologists/endocrinologists or experienced educators. A majority of the trainees attended all sessions and 95% of the trainees acknowledged that the program met its objective and was beneficial to them. This article elaborates the methodology of the program and its evaluation based on feedback received from the participants and trainers.