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Subject:
From:
Barbara Ash <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 22 May 2005 12:08:43 EDT
Content-Type:
text/plain
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45 hours of lactation specific education are required to sit the   exam.    
45 
clock hours of education, and not  even at the  college level, are required 
to 
prepare for a career.  There are no  requirements as to the  content of these 
45 hours.  Theoretically,  it could be 45 hours of basic positioning and 
latch, 
and  the applicant  would have met the requirement.  How many clock hours do 
other  people  spend in classrooms preparing for other allied health care  
careers?  At the present time, these hours are not  even required  to be 
CERPs 
(although it is strongly recommended), which would   guarantee at least a 
certain 
level of quality and relatively valid  subject  matter.  What happens is that 
most 
people accumulate  their hours, rush off to take the “lactation consultant  
course” which  through clever marketing and hospital administration pressure  
seems to  have become a “requirement” to sit the exam –it is NOT--, which 
gives   
you 45 CERPs, and voila you are eligible to sit the exam. 
Taking any 45  hour course or review type course in the time immediately  
before  sitting the exam if anything, should serve as a review of what you 
have   
learned over the past years you have accumulated your practice hours and  
read  
the books (at least some of them) on the recommended reading  list.  It isn’t 
currently a question on the  exam application, but  I would love to see a 
poll of 
how many of the candidates  read any of  the books on the list beyond 
Lawrence 
and Riordan before the   exam.  They don’t even read the  entire Candidate 
Information  Guide, based on questions I was accustomed to  answering. 
Ideally,  individuals preparing to become IBCLCs should be  thinking of it as 
at  least a 2-3 preparation experience.  I always advised “newly in love  
with  
breastfeeding” IBCLC wannabe’s to take a week-long course, do  some reading 
from  the recommended reading list, go to some  conferences, and THEN begin  
accumulating hours.  If they  were  nurses, and had already begun (or indeed 
finished) their hours,  they still need  to do these activities.  All of  
this, and  
more, is in the Candidate Information Guide.    
45 Hour  Requirement, Continuing education and the CERP system:  The CERP 
system  is another area that, I  believe, needs major review and revamping.   
Currently, CERPs are granted after an evaluation of the program, the   
speakers CV, 
the program bibliography, and payment of a miniscule fee.   Other than this, 
there is no  verification of the speaker’s actual  knowledge on the subject, 
or 
skill at  presenting the  information.  Even  more disturbing, there is no 
sure 
way to  verify actual attendance and LEARNING  of the attendees at the 
sessions.  
Course providers often cannot even verify attendance, let alone that   
participants learned anything.  I  personally have attended more  than one 
conference 
and registered only to find  the completed CERP  certificate for 15 or more 
CERPS already in the folder!  Why not just  see the sites of Chicago or New  
York 
in this case?  Do you attend  every session at every  conference?  If the 
certificate is  preprinted, do you correct  it? 
Which brings us to another point.   Recertification is currently required 
every 5 years by exam or CERPs,  and  at 10 years by exam only.  The  
recertification by CERPs  is, essentially, a gift.  Continuing education has 
not been linked 
to  continuing competency.  The only  means of guaranteeing continuing  
competency is through examination.  Our young field is  continually  
changing.  So 
are others.  Other allied health  care professions and  international 
professional certifications require  recertification by exam every  2 or 3 
years.  
Practicing with  out  of date information is a Code of Ethics violation.  
Think about  
that one. 
CERPs are also not currently rated or ranked by level or   difficulty, 
although this is under consideration.  Entry level,  mid-level and advanced  
experienced level program designation not only  would help individuals 
discern  what 
would be appropriate for them, it  would also help to ensure that at least  
an 
effort is being made for  continuing competency and continuing learning.     
I must  respectfully disagree with Kathleen B. that there is no real  
standard  
of information, or standard of care for breastfeeding.  We do have the  
beginnings of standard of  information ad care, based on ILCA’s  evidence 
based 
practice guidelines.  They need to be updated regularly  of  course, but more 
importantly, they need to be used!  There are  IBCLCs in practice who do not  
know 
they exist.  There are  others  who do not observe them.  Is it any  wonder 
that 
MDs  and others greet our profession with mixed reviews, if we cannot  even  
ensure that IBCLCs practice quality, basic care across the  board?  
(continued)



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