I'm going to jump in (what else is new?) and give my not-so HO about the
need for more clinical education for LCs. Since we have very few pathways
(at present) to clinical skills why don't we use the pathways that exist --
i.e., conferences? Other specialties -- I'm thinking of midwives who have
suturing classes, and LLLI where intensive Human Relations (HRE) skills
involve participants over one or two days of a conference.
I think back to the "Evaluation of the Breast" seminar presented at the 1995
ILCA conference. It was standing room only and even then most of us wanted
more. (It was too big a group and too short to be truly effective.) Such
offerings could be made in addition to the present program, but should
involve a full day (at least) of hands-on, evaluated instruction. This would
mean limited class size. Eventually we could get to a point where a certain
number of clinical skills (evaluated by instructors) would be required for
certification. Yes?????
Margery Wilson, IBCLC