I will be rotating off the IBLCE where I have served as the ILCA delegate,
and want to assure all those who have concerns about the recertification by
exam decision of how much soul searching went into this decision.  Many of
us who have no reason to know (as I didn't before I became involved in the
work of the IBLCE) don't realize how many changes are occuring in health
care -- both nationally and internationally.  Lots of reseach has been
published showing how little correlation there is between evidence of
continued competancy and attendance at CE offerings.  This does not mean
such offerings are worthless.  I take these meetings very seriously and
consider them the fora where I stay current with cutting edge ideas and get
to network with the experts in our profession.  However, the truth is, some
people attend such meetings and never go to sessions, or sleep thru
sessions.  As someone who regularly teaches, I can attest to that!  In most
medical professions, there is now  a trend toward requiring licensed people
to sit for periodic examinations.  The move toward CERTIFYING licensed
professionals is the vanguard position in health care fields.  IBLCE took
this position at its inception, because they wanted to be creditable.  If we
retreat from this position just as others are catching up to it, it marks a
diminishment in the quality of our certification.

There is nothing like the prospect of having to pass a test that so
motivates people to study up.  Unfortunately, too many among us are not
keeping current with the kind of reading we need to do.  I am always stunned
by how few read the JHL cover to cover, and how few are really subscribing
to other journals and reading something new weekly.  We are supposed to be
scientists, as well as artisans. I realize that everything costs money -- as
a solo practice LC who has never had any institutional support for any of my
prof. education or fees, I am well aware of that.  But we are building a
profession, and cannot afford to practice 'belief system' or 'dogma based'
lactation science.  I support the IBLCE position to keep the certification
meaningful by periodic re-examination.

Barbara Wilson-Clay, BSEd, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates, Austin, Texas
http://www.jump.net/~bwc/lactnews.html

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