Dear Lactnetters Hello. This is the first time that I am posting a response. It has been an exciting time for me reading all the exchanges. I read with interest, the different approaches to teaching medical students. I have been teaching medical students since 1992 and have found it to be a most challenging and stimulating experience. The Lactation programme started with 2 hours of lectures and has since grown to 4 hours. The theoretical sessions are meant to be didactic - discussing two main topics- infant problems and maternal problems and overcoming them. However I always start with the medical benefits of breastfeeding and emphasize that Breastmilk is Medicine to the medical students. The second thing that I emphasise is that breastfeeding is normal and can be learned and can be a truly pleasurable experience. The problems arise because of various reasons - this is where the students have 2 clinical sessions(2 hours) where they observe how a mother is helped in the wards. So far, I see an average of about 162 medical students a year ( about 18 students monthly for 9 months). So it has been very rewarding to see a change in their attitudes towards breastfeeding. Tom Hale is right in emphasising the positives of breastfeeding - I find that it is important to stress the positives rather than the negatives, especially in a developed country. In Singapore, the water is clean , the hygiene standard is rather high and the infant mortality rate is rather low - it is harder to convince the medical students that milk formula is not as wonderful as breastmilk. I wish all who are teaching medical students, a wonderful time of informing and educating them. Doris Fok from Singapore