In a message dated 97-05-12 01:12:12 EDT, you write:

<< I have had people who want to come and learn from me, and I have allowed
it
 to happen from time to time, but plan to begin a more structured approach
 that will benefit both the trainee and me.  After all it took me years of
  blood, sweat, and tears to get to where I am today, and some people do want
 to come and observe for a day and expect this to be so simple they will
learn
 almost everything they need to know in that amount of time.
 We all deserve to be compensated for this type of teaching and should ask at
 least the going rate of $80 to $120 per 8 hrs of instruction/observation
 time. (I'm open to comments--please about any of this) >>

Jane has made some excellent points.  This is an issue that BSC has been
working on for a long time, and will finally have pulled together by August
(Lord willing & the creek don't rise!!) in the form of something that student
LCs can use for an "internship."  The one thing we don't have nailed down is
what sort of compensation should the LC mentor expect to charge?  And this is
a really tough issue.

My frustration is with the many nurses who have worked mother-baby for many
years, so have the "supervised" hours (only because they "helped" with bf,
and were under supervision for their work), but really don't have a CLUE as
to what to do.  There are good test takers out there.  I'd love to have
everyone go through a supervised BREASTFEEDING program; in which case, the
number of hours could be decreased if they were working with a qualified LC.
 I'm not sure how to pull all this together, but the "Blueprints" Linda
Kutner is working on will be a start.

Sigh.

In any case, I think that anyone who is willing to work with a student LC,
should be able to expect certain qualifications in terms of education from
that LC.  And one of them is that she is working towards the IBLCE
certification -- and not accepting the "certification" granted by a few
education programs.

We've had this discussion before....unfortunately, there are some who are
capitalizing on the fact that there are students/people who think they can
call themselves certified after a 1 week education program and an exam
without qualifying for the IBLCE.  And if you say, "I'm a certified lactation
consultant/counselor/educator/specialist/therapist/whatever"  -- who is smart
enough to ask if you are BOARD certified???

Drat.

Jan Barger
Wheaton, IL