Theresa says,
<< I can't help but feel a little uneasy putting CLC behind my name. I
may not be "board certified" but I have several years of counseling and
clinical work under my belt. I know IBCLC's who ask me questions and one's
who go to consultations with every intervention known to women fully
intending to use them all. >>
But Theresa, what does CLC mean? I don't mean to pick on you -- and I'm not
going to, but this is a major problem for the public and for others. Exactly
what does CLC mean? Or CLE? or CLS? Or a myriad of other intials that are
out there. How does anyone, especially the public, know what this person has
done to "earn" the CLC? Or CLE? Or C...whatever.
In many cases it means you went to a 18-45 hour (more or less) program --
maybe there was an exam at the end; maybe not. Maybe there was homework;
maybe not. Maybe there was followup clinical; maybe not. Whatever else we
know about the person with an IBCLC, we know that she/he has at minimum, 30
hours of didactic education, at minimum, 2500 breastfeeding consultancy hours
(and lets not get into "well I know someone who never touched a breast &
passed the IBLCE -- BTDT), and passed a criterion-referenced, rigorous, 6
hour exam that was put together by a team of experts from around the world,
and moderated by a psychometrician. There may be problems with the IBLCE
exam - there are problems with nursing boards, there are problems with
medical & dental boards, problems with cosmetology boards. We will not have
a perfect exam or setup for exam -- not in our lifetime. But at least the
public can be aware that there are certain criteria that the person with the
IBCLC has passed...
Furthermore, if an IBCLC is guilty of malpractice there are routes to go to
have that person investigated. I don't know of anyplace to go if a person
that has a CLE or CLS or CLC or whatever gives lactation advice that harms a
baby or a mother unless it is to the courts. And are there safeguards around
those initials that means the person HAS to obtain continuing education to
maintain certification -- or is it once certified always certified?
So for those that have the consultancy hours and the didactic hours, why not
take the board exam?
Putting on my flame-retardant suit and waiting for the fireballs....
Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC -- proud to have once sat on the IBLCE board which
gave me an entirely different perspective on this process.
***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
