I am fairly new to Lacnet, and am currently an intern scheduled to take the exam in 2012. I am so grateful to see all the comments and concerns about the new IBCLC requirements. My background is as a Child & Family Therapist for many years, followed by over 20 years working in an outpatient clinic at a local hospital as a social worker with low income pregnant and parenting women. For those of you familiar, it was a Maternity Support Services and WIC Clinic. The last two years at the clinic I was trained to do WIC, as the funding for MSS was dropping and the WIC need was rising. For WIC, I received some breastfeeding training, and found my new passion. I'm 62 and have worked with Habitat for Humanity in other countries. In thinking about my retirement, and finding a passion for helping moms with breastfeeding, I began a mentoring program with the hope that I would be working with low income breastfeeding mothers here and particularly abroad in developing countries.
Although I had worked for this particular hospital for over 20 years, they would not let me do an internship there because I am not a nurse. The same held true for all the other local hospitals I contacted. And it's probably for the best, as I would never be working in a hospital. I am on Pathway 3, and could not use any of my hours with the MSS/WIC clinic. My mentor is wonderful. She has been in private practice for 15 years and is not a nurse. Her background is as a special ed teacher. I'm finding it very difficult to get all my hours with an IBCLC in private practice. I, too, have no idea why I would need classes like "medical terminology" since I will never work in a hospital. Sometimes I feel hopeless to be able to obtain my IBCLC. Right now I just keep putting one foot in front of the other hoping it all works out. I don't know what else to do since this seems to be the right path for me in my life.
I have talked to IBLCE and written a letter, all to no avail. I really want to encourage everyone with concerns, whether or not you are an IBCLC or an intern, a nurse or a social worker, to write to IBLCE with your concerns. The more letters they get from a diverse group of folks with concerns, the more likely they are to review their requirement. They need to hear from lots of us for it to have an impact. Again, I am so grateful to connect with other IBCLC's and interns. Thanks for all your postings.
***********************************************
Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome
|