peace to you, too, chris - BUT - let's be fair - how about this scenario:

a nurse has a bit of experience working the maternity unit, a hospital that
will pay for her expenses to take the exam and some cerp level courses, and a
couple of people willing to sign recommendations, because of course it will
reflect well on the institution to have "more initials" after the names of
employees.

so what if this woman did not have a lengthy or successful personal
breastfeeding experience, has no experience with normal breastfeeding dyads or
babies past the first few weeks of age, works in an environment where other
professionals don't think formula is "bad" and its use is routine, understands
that the institution makes a lot of money from pump rentals, works with
neonatologists that dismiss breastfeeding as a luxury that a mother can take
up "later" after the preemie is heroically saved, doesn't educate her patients
as to the worth of breastfeeding but allows them to view it as an "option"
rather than an imperative - i would say that being a nurse does not prove that
someone can be an effective lc.

chris, what i hope you view as an answer to your thoughtful questions and
ideas about lactation consultancy becoming a "new profession" is this: those
with a volunteer background do not need to become more like those with Other
health profession backgrounds and discard their volunteer backgrounds. both
paths must merge to create something new.

as one who is caught between the two factions in some respects, this appears
to be a process that continues to be lengthy and challenging. peer review
should operate  to help raise the level of professionalism. i like to think
that the thoughtfulness and tremendous integrity shown regularly by those who
post to lactnet means this is happening.

carol b.

ps. a volunteer needs a college degree. someone i once worked for said, the
point of a degree is not always to learn the specific skills for the job,
although that can be part of it. the point is to learn how to learn.