Shannon made a most worthy post:

>time.  Mentorship is considered very prestigious, something to 
>be cited on a resume.

As she said, students need to practice under supervision. I'd also note
that education of those learning a profession is a hallmark of a
profession.

Having come through nursing education, the typical pathway is to
practice on very stable patients at first (often elderly), with
increasing complex or unstable clients later in each rotation and with
each year.  Then comes the registration exam.

But it doesn't stop there! After eighteen years in nursing and two as an
LC, I still learn something for each profession every day.  Every day.
And when I have a student to mentor, I try to welcome the opportunity
not just to teach, but to learn.  By asking questions, being on top of
the research, sometimes they have more to offer than we realize.  After
two years, I still consider myself a beginner and am grateful to those
more experienced for their willingness to consult over the phone or see
clients who have me puzzled.  That way I learn too.

Just my $ .02.

Judith

Judith Hayman, RN, IBCLC, BSc, BScN
Public Health Nurse & Lactation Consultant

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html