Continuing Education

It's time for GOLD again! GOLD11 is happening now. Well the speakers have already spoken, but I have until the end of the month to listen to all the recordings and watch the presentations, so for me, it is happening now. This is my second GOLD conference.

GOLD stands for Global Online Lactation Discussion.  It's an online conference that I'm so excited about.  As a lactation consultant I have to keep up with the latest expert research, techniques and skills.  To prove I'm doing that I have to have 75 CERPs (continuing education recognition points) specific to the field of lactation.  LC's need 75 CERPs in 5 years or they must retake the exam.  Everyone must retake the exam, no matter what, after 10 years.

It's like if we had to take nursing boards all over again, every 5-10 years.  It's that big of a deal.  That's what LCs have to do.  I think it's grand fun to attend conferences, take classes, read and research about my field; but I probably wouldn't have spent the money to find out that continuing education is worth the money if I didn't have to.  In the end, I'm glad they made me do it, because it is worth it.  Perpetual student, that's what I am; it's what I believe I need to be, to rock at what I do.  If I wasn't so hungry to learn about this stuff I wouldn't be where I am today.  New research and discoveries happen all the time that can change the way you practice and what you teach parents.  Now that I do private practice, I'm not around more experienced lactation consultants as often as I was in the hospitals, so I really miss out on gleaning from them.  Conferences ensure that I'm keeping up my skills, and I consider them a very good thing.  For me it's like going to a festival, honestly.

So do you help mamas and babies?  Are you a doula, midwife, breastfeeding educator or counselor?  You may not need  lactation specific education credits to keep your license, but I'll bet it would behoove you....

What if it were free?  The GOLD conference isn't free, but there are talks that you can hear for free at the health-e-learning website. Here is a link to where you can hear the free lectures.
 I highly recommend James Akre's talk, What is the Problem with Breastfeeding? from GOLD10. Jim is the author of The Problem with Breastfeeding which I recommend.

Here's the blurb about him on the GOLD site:

James Akre has both academic and practical experience in sociology, public and international affairs, and public health, with an early focus on economic and social development and the welfare of populations in low-income rural environments. His community development and international public health nutrition career spans four decades, including over 30 years working in agencies of the United Nations system dealing with labour and social affairs, and public health. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE), the Editorial Board of the open-access International Breastfeeding Journal and the Scientific Committee of La Leche League France.

 

Oh yeah, and James is a friend of mine and I'm working with him to set up a new blog called Planet Breastfeeding, if you read his book, The Problem with Breastfeeding you know all about his vision. But if you listen to the talk, you'll get a glimpse of that too. I'll be letting you know here once Planet Breastfeeding rolls out. I'm hoping for another printing of this book, I think the message is that important.