Brenda asks:

Is it realistic for the health department to expect this young woman to
=
become IBCLC within one year under these circumstances? I know that it =

took me 4 years to get to the point where I felt comfortable enough to =

even take the exam! Can this 700 hour course suffice in getting her the
=
training she needs to become IBCLC in such a short amount of time?  I =
would like to know what this group thinks. Thanks!

 I believe this is exactly the question a current study is aiming to
answer.  As somewhat of a comparison, fne is eligible to take RN boards
after education and a limited clinical experience.  The 700 hours are
under the supervision of an IBCLC with at least 5 years experience.
Remember, also that IBLCE is requiring more specific educational
classes/subjects before being eligible to sit the exam.  In time, there
will be enough degree programs in lactation that completion os such a
course along with supervised clinical experience will qualify one to sit
the exam just as is the case for RNs, OTs PTs etc.
One very valid point that was made at the last ILCA Conference was that
we are presently an aging profession!  We need to assure that newer,
younger persons are intering the LC field.  Our members are getting
older and more and more each year will be reaching retirement.  Most of
us currently came to the LC profession from other professional
backgrounds, some also with several years of experience doing volunteer
breastfeeding help.  For many of us also, our clinical experience was
rather "hit and miss" and we were largely self-taught.  It is somewhat
natural for us to feel that those entering our profession now should
face the same "hard knocks" that we did over the years to get where we
are today.
As we get enough numbers of exam takers who have had both more
consistent educational background and fewer, but supervised and planned
hours of clinical experience, we will be able to determine whether they
do as well in the exam as people with experience more like what we "old
timers" had before becoming LCs.  We need to look at how to keep our
profession going in the future and may need to let go of some of our
notions of how to grow new LCs.
Winnie Mading IBCLC- one of the first examed LCs from 1985

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