Tampa Bay APRN Publishes Six Questions on Hormone Provider Training and Credentials

You should know what training, certification and education your hormone provider has before starting HRT. Ask these six questions first.

WESLEY CHAPEL, FL, UNITED STATES, August 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- What Training Does Your Hormone Provider Actually Have? Tampa Bay APRN Publishes Six Questions Patients Should Ask Before Starting HRT

Maribel Dixon, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, says patients should understand the training, clinical reasoning, and monitoring behind hormone therapy before beginning treatment.

What training does the person prescribing those hormones actually have?

Maribel Dixon, founder of South Beach Wellness Center in Lutz, has published six questions she believes patients should ask any hormone provider, including her.

“There is no separate hormone-therapy license that tells a patient a clinician completed advanced HRT training before prescribing it,” Dixon said. “Patients should not assume that two providers offering hormone therapy have comparable education or experience.”

Florida does not require an additional BHRT, menopause, or hormone-therapy credential for otherwise qualified prescribers practicing within their lawful scope. Specialized training does exist. Dixon is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner who has completed WorldLink Medical’s Advanced BHRT certification pathway and is also an EvexiPEL-certified provider.

“I don’t want patients impressed by the word ‘certified,’” Dixon said. “Ask who provided the education, how extensive it was, whether competency was evaluated, and how the provider stays current.”

Six Questions Patients Should Ask a Hormone Provider

1. What hormone-specific education have you completed?

Dixon recommends asking where the provider trained and what that training involved.
“My FNP-C is my board certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner. My hormone training is additional education,” Dixon said. “Patients deserve that level of precision.”

2. How will you determine whether hormone therapy is appropriate for me?

Dixon says hormone care should begin with diagnosis and risk assessment, not the assumption that every symptom requires a hormone prescription.
Fatigue, sleep disruption, decreased libido, mood changes, difficulty concentrating and weight changes can be associated with hormonal changes, but they can also have other causes.

“Hormones should not become the explanation for every symptom simply because a patient walked into a hormone clinic,” Dixon said. “I want to understand what we are actually trying to treat.”

3. What will you monitor after treatment begins?

Patients should understand what follow-up is expected, which symptoms or adverse effects should be reported, what testing may be appropriate, and when treatment will be reassessed.

“Don’t just ask, ‘Will you check my hormones again?’” Dixon said. “Ask, ‘What are you monitoring for, and what would make you change the plan?’”

Monitoring differs by patient, hormone and treatment indication. Dixon says treatment should not be reduced to chasing a predetermined laboratory number.

4. What treatment options do you offer, and why are you recommending this one?

Hormone therapy can be delivered through different formulations and routes depending on the hormone and clinical circumstances.
“The important question is not whether one method is universally best,” Dixon said. “It is whether the provider can explain why it is appropriate for that particular patient.”

She recommends asking what alternatives exist, why one route is being recommended and what risks or limitations accompany that choice.

5. How does hormone therapy fit into the rest of my healthcare?

Dixon says hormone therapy should be considered in the context of the patient’s broader medical picture, including medications, risk factors and other conditions.
“Hormone therapy is still medical care,” Dixon said. “I need to know what else is happening with that patient.”
Patients receiving hormone treatment separately from primary care should also ask how important information will be communicated between clinicians.

6. Can I independently verify your professional license and credentials?

Dixon’s final recommendation is simple: check.
Patients can verify professional licensure and investigate what additional certifications represent and who issued them.
“It takes a few minutes, and patients should do it for me too,” Dixon said. “Trust should never require a patient to avoid verification.”
Dixon’s National Provider Identifier is 1851802300, identifying her as a Family Nurse Practitioner in the federal NPI system.

Why Dixon Published the Questions

Dixon says the framework grew out of conversations with patients who had received hormone therapy elsewhere but could not explain why a treatment had been selected, what was being monitored, or when it was supposed to be reassessed.

“There are very good clinicians providing hormone care from different professional backgrounds and using different treatment approaches,” Dixon said. “This is not about saying there is only one acceptable provider or protocol.”

“It is about whether the person prescribing your hormones can explain what they are doing, why they are doing it, what training informs that decision, and how they intend to monitor you.”

“I am publishing six questions that I am prepared to answer myself,” Dixon said. “That is intentional. An informed patient makes better medical conversations possible.”

About Maribel Dixon, MSN, APRN, FNP-C

Maribel Dixon is the founder and nurse practitioner at South Beach Wellness Center in Lutz, Florida. She is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and earned her Master of Science in Nursing with a Family Nurse Practitioner specialty from South University. Dixon has worked in nursing and advanced practice throughout Tampa Bay since 2012 and previously spent five years working with an internal-medicine physician in chronic disease management. She has also taught registered nurses and precepted nurse practitioner students.
Maribel has completed advanced bioidentical hormone replacement therapy education and certification through WorldLink Medical and is an EvexiPEL-certified provider. Her clinical services include perimenopause and menopause care, hormone replacement therapy, testosterone replacement therapy, medical weight management and primary care.


About South Beach Wellness Center

South Beach Wellness Center is a locally owned medical practice in Lutz, Florida, serving Wesley Chapel, Land O’ Lakes, New Tampa and surrounding Tampa Bay communities. The practice provides hormone replacement therapy, menopause and perimenopause care, testosterone replacement therapy, medical weight management, and relationship-based primary care.

Maribel Dixon
South Beach Wellness Center
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