Georgia said: "If the S of P is allowed to stay as it is what we will see in 20 years is that very few LC's will come from different backgrounds other than RN, MD backgrounds...I.e., you won't be a "real" LC without the medical degree too... and as many of you pointed out, part of what makes LCs so effective is the many knowledge bases/educational cultures from which we evolve." I agree and want to add that if you have to be an RN or an MD to be an IBCLC, then is it really even a separate profession? It is then just an added certification to a medical/nursing degree. How many MDs bother to get it now? Not many. If it restricts what we are able to do so much, what will be the advantage to an RN to become IBCLC? I know that because I am not an RN or an MD I can't do some of the things that I might if I was. But I also have a lot of medical knowledge that was PART of the knowledge base for my IBCLC. I have other background from having worked as a social worker for 20 years that does not come with an RN or MD that is helpful in dealing with the many psychosocial issues involved in breastfeeding in a culture not conducive to breastfeeding. Perhaps we should prepare a letter to send from Lactnet members expressing concerns with this that we could sign and send in individually? Lucy Towbin, MSW, LCSW, IBCLC *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET email list is powered by LISTSERV (R). There is only one LISTSERV. To learn more, visit: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html