Clinical Practice

Diabetes Mellitus in Primary Care

A complete course in diagnosing and managing diabetes in resource-limited primary care: telling type 1 from type 2 without laboratory testing, diagnosis and screening, dietary advice grounded in real local meals, oral agents and insulin including storage without reliable refrigeration, hypoglycaemia, diabetic emergencies, complications screening, and diabetes in pregnancy.

4.0 CPD credit hour · 14 modules · 285 minutes · 80% to pass · UGX 60,000

Course aim

To build confident, complete diabetes care in primary practice, from diagnosis through decades of ongoing management.

What you will be able to do

• Classify diabetes clinically where laboratory testing for type is unavailable.
• Diagnose diabetes using fasting glucose, random glucose and HbA1c where available, and know who to screen.
• Give dietary and lifestyle advice grounded in what patients actually eat.
• Prescribe oral agents correctly, and start and manage insulin, including storage without reliable refrigeration.
• Recognise and treat hypoglycaemia, and manage diabetic emergencies initially before referral.
• Screen for and recognise diabetic complications with basic equipment.
• Manage diabetes in pregnancy, both pre-existing and gestational.

Syllabus

1. Course Information — What this course covers, who it is for, and how it is assessed (12 min)
2. Learning Outcomes and Pre-Course Self-Assessment — What you should be able to do by the end, and where you stand now (10 min)
3. Understanding Diabetes — Classification, burden, and telling the types apart clinically (25 min)
4. Diagnosis and Screening — Using the tests available, and knowing who to test before symptoms appear (25 min)
5. Lifestyle and Dietary Advice — Guidance that connects to what a patient actually eats (22 min)
6. Oral Medication — Starting, titrating, and combining oral agents (22 min)
7. Starting and Managing Insulin — When to start, how to store it, and teaching safe technique (28 min)
8. Recognising and Treating Hypoglycaemia — A common, urgent, and completely reversible emergency (20 min)
9. Diabetic Emergencies — Recognising and starting management of DKA and hyperosmolar state (28 min)
10. Diabetes Complications and Screening — Catching silent damage to the feet, eyes and kidneys before it becomes severe (25 min)
11. Diabetes in Pregnancy — Gestational diabetes and pre-existing diabetes in pregnancy (22 min)
12. Clinical Case Studies and Applied Clinical Reasoning — Four patients who bring the whole course together (26 min)
13. Personal Reflection, Action Plan and Course Evaluation — Turning what you have learned into one specific change (12 min)
14. References and Further Reading — Where this course's guidance comes from, and where to go deeper (8 min)

Who it is for

• Clinical Officers
• Medical Officers
• Nurses
• Pharmacy Professionals
• Allied Health Professionals

Competencies

• Clinical classification of diabetes type
• Diagnosis and opportunistic screening
• Culturally relevant dietary counselling
• Oral agent and insulin prescribing
• Hypoglycaemia and diabetic emergency management
• Complications screening
• Diabetes care in pregnancy