I agree with Kathleen Bruce.  The most difficult part of being a mentor
is the timing.  If I'm lucky, clients call a day or two in advance but
most of the time they wait until they are in deep trouble and want an
appointment NOW.  The NOW is usually right before a weekend or holiday!
In the past, I've invited LC students to my office but it didn't work
out well.  Sometimes they shlepped all the way in bumper to bumper
traffic only to find out that the client called to cancel the
appointment or rescheduled for later that day.  Unlike a hospital, I
have limited bookings.  I sit with clients at least an hour and if we're
talking about a new mother, close to two hours.   If a student LC
doesn't have little kids at home and is available to come over with
little notice, I don't mind.

I know some area LCs charge for mentoring but I'm not comfortable with
it personally.  I haven't heard of other professionals charging for this
service - at least not in Israel.  Our vet doesn't charge my daughter
for interning at his clinic, for example.  Mentoring or apprenticeship
is as old as the hills.  It is usually acceptable for the trainee to
help out in some way in return for learning.  In our case it could be
assisting with research, clearing up office clutter or
typing/translating.

Susan Nachman-Srebrnik, IBCLC
Ranana, Israel

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