By Judi Lauwers, BA, IBCLC, FILCA, ILCA Education Coordinator
Have you attended one of the International Lactation Consultant Association’s (ILCA) FREE webinars yet? They are available to both ILCA members and nonmembers. ILCA’s live webinar series offers you the opportunity to gain valuable education from international experts – all from the convenience of your home or workplace.
Through the end of June, 2013, you can attend ILCA’s live webinars for free!
Response to these free webinars has been resoundingly positive. Cathy Carothers launched the free webinars on October 23rd with a very popular presentation on Building Connections with New Families: When Talking is Not Enough. More than 90 people attended the first free webinar. Since then, more than 500 additional health care professionals attended webinars presented by Jeanette Panchula on counseling, Ted Greiner on breastfeeding and alcohol, and Phyllis Kombol on clinical instruction.
So why has ILCA started offering free webinars? The idea came from our esteemed ILCA board president, Liz Brooks. She had noticed that other professional associations offer free webinars and wondered if it might be feasible for ILCA to do the same. ILCA has a strong commitment to member services and also to professional development.
There are two primary reasons people attend a webinar. First, and hopefully foremost, is to learn! ILCA offers a wide variety of topics and speakers to provide learning opportunities that will help to strengthen your knowledge base and clinical skills. We are excited to offer these webinars at no cost in an effort to help advance the lactation consultant profession. The second primary reason for attending webinars is to earn continuing education credit. IBCLCs need 75 CERPs every 5 years and nurses also need contact hours. ILCA is a long-term provider with IBLCE and ANCC to provide continuing education to IBCLCs and nurses. Our providerships allow us to offer continuing education credit for our annual conference as well as all of our webinars and study modules. We offer that credit at a 50% discount to ILCA members as a special member service.
Webinars are a great way to get continuing education. The live (and free) ILCA webinars are for viewing only and do not provide credit. For those who need CERPs and nursing contact hours, we record our webinars and have them available to purchase online and receive credit. Each webinar recording is posted on ILCA’s CERPs onDemand™ site one week after the live presentation. With the click of a few buttons, you can purchase the recorded webinar, answer a few continuing education questions, complete an evaluation and then print a certificate. The best part is that you will have full access to the recorded webinar until it expires – typically a period of one year.
You can attend the live presentation for free and you only pay if you need continuing education credit! We recognize that some may attend the free webinar simply for the learning opportunity and that is wonderful. We’re glad you are taking advantage of the program! At the same time, we hope if you need continuing education credit with IBLCE or ANCC, you will use the ILCA webinars to help meet your requirement. After attending the live presentation, please go to ILCA’s CERPs onDemand™ site to purchase the recorded webinar and go through the continuing education process to receive credit. This will likely be a factor in determining whether we can continue to offer the live presentations free after June.
We look forward to having you with us in our upcoming free webinars!
Click on one of the links below to register. After you register you will receive an email confirmation. You will also receive reminders one week before and again one day before the live presentation.
Developing a Successful Hospital Lactation Program: This webinar is presented by Rebecca Mannel, BS, IBCLC, FILCA and will be held on January 10, 2013 from 6:00 – 7:30pm EST USA and will be given in English.
Overcoming the Challenges of Baby Friendly Designation: This webinar is presented by Joyce McKeever, MS, RN and Trish MacEnroe, BS, CDN, CLC. It will be held January 17, 2013 from 4:00 – 5:30pm EST USA and will be given in English.
Gain de Poids Insuffisant: Approche et Etudes de Cas: This webinar is presented by Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC and will be held February 2, 2013 from 4:00 – 5:30pm EST USA. It will be given in French.
Poor Weight Gain: Approach and Case Studies: This webinar is presented by Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC. It will be held February 2, 2013 from 6:00 – 7:30pm EST USA and given in English.
Overcoming Breastfeeding Ambivalence: This webinar is presented by Diana West, BA, IBCLC on February 20, 2013 from 5:30 – 7:30pm EST USA. It will be given in English.
If you have questions about ILCA’s webinar process, please visit our website or contact us at webinars@ilca.org.
Even though we’ve wrapped up our World Breastfeeding Week celebration for 2013, The Journal of Human Lactation (JHL) is still celebrating all month long with FREE access to their journal. JHL is the premier quarterly, peer-reviewed journal publishing original research, commentaries relating to human lactation and breastfeeding behavior, case reports relevant to the practicing lactation consultant and other health professionals who assist lactating mothers or their breastfeeding infants, debate on research methods for breastfeeding and lactation studies, and discussions of the business aspects of lactation consulting.