Pictured from left: Deborah Schofield – GM Health Services, Diabetes WA; Siana Critchett – Course Coordinator, Curtin School of Nursing; Amber Rose, winner of the 2024 Graduate Certificate in Diabetes Education Dux Prize; Henry Lie, Diabetes Educator student; Jessica Weiss; Clinical Services Manager, Diabetes WA and Carly Luff, Health and Integration Services Manager, Diabetes WA.
We catch up with Amber Rose, winner of the 2024 Graduate Certificate in Diabetes Education Dux Prize, sponsored by Diabetes WA.
In February, Diabetes WA’s Deb Schofield, Jessica Weiss and Carly Luff attended Curtin School of Nursing’s Celebration of Excellence at Optus Stadium.
Here, top graduates from 2024 were recognised, among them Amber Rose, winner of the Graduate Certificate in Diabetes Education Dux prize for 2024.
As the prize sponsor, Diabetes WA was proud to present Amber with her award.
A mother of two young children and currently on maternity leave, Amber has a special interest in gestational diabetes. We caught up with her about her studies and what’s next for her career.
What is the diabetes educator course and why did you decide to take it?
This is a one-year graduate certificate that’s available to a variety of primary health disciplines including exercise physiologists, dietitians, midwives, nurses, podiatrists, Aboriginal health practitioners and pharmacists. You can then go on to become a credentialled diabetes educator.
As a dietitian, I’ve come across a lot of people affected by diabetes. While working with women with gestational diabetes I could see it was an area where there are a lot of assumptions about what living with diabetes entails and a lot of knowledge gaps.
Diabetes really does touch every area of health care. I wanted to make sure I was across what is a complex topic to make sure that I’m better placed to help people living with diabetes.
What have you learned about gestational diabetes?
Pregnancy is a very vulnerable time and it’s important that women receive holistic care. There’s sometimes a lot of misplaced guilt associated with gestational diabetes that unfortunately can be reinforced by family members and health care professionals when giving advice.
What I like about working with these women is that they are very engaged and motivated to self-manage their gestational diabetes and look after their babies’ health. Plus, having young kids myself, I know it’s a special time – these things all made me want to work in this area.
What’s next for you?
When I return to work after maternity leave, I’ll be working as a dietitian for pregnant women, many living with gestational diabetes, and in the endocrinology clinic at my hospital. The plan is to work in those areas and then become credentialled as a diabetes educator with the ADEA (Australian Diabetes Educator’s Association.)
Women who have GDM are at high risk of going on to develop Type 2 diabetes. We know that these are busy years and it’s really hard for new mothers to stay on top of their health and find time to go and have a repeat oral glucose tolerance test, which takes three hours. There’s so much going on and a lot of information overload, which all makes it harder to follow up with gestational diabetes patients. This might be an area where I advocate for women in the future.
Congratulations, Amber!
