1484-P: Perceptions of Diabetes Technology Education among Preclinical Health Care Students

Introduction and Objective: Diabetes technologies are increasingly integral to diabetes management, yet formal healthcare education on this topic remains inconsistent. This study aimed to explore pre-clinical healthcare students’ perceptions of the relevance and perceived clinical impact of targeted diabetes technology education. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted with 19 pre-clinical healthcare students from osteopathic medicine, physician assistant, and pharmacy programs with no prior formal diabetes technology training. Participants completed two hours of online diabetes technology modules developed by the Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists, followed by semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis by three independent researchers, with consensus achieved through iterative review. Results: All participants reported that diabetes technology education was valuable and relevant to future clinical practice. Nearly all students reported an enhanced understanding of diabetes management and an improved ability to assist people with diabetes (PWD). Participants described increased awareness of available technologies, improved sense of clinical applications, and greater confidence communicating with PWD about technology options. Most participants reported increased motivation to pursue diabetes technology education as they transition into future clinical training. Anticipated barriers to real-world application included insurance coverage and cost, limited access, and challenges supporting the adoption and use of technologies. Conclusion: Pre-clinical healthcare students uniformly perceived diabetes technology education as relevant and beneficial for clinical preparedness. Early integration of diabetes technology instruction may address perceived educational gaps while highlighting the need to contextualize training around real-world access and implementation challenges. Disclosure T. Rath: None. D. Rath: None. M.N. Shafi: None. C. Young: Advisory Panel; Ended; Sanofi.