Perhaps the problem is that most of the board members are primarily English language speakers in developed countries.  I have worked internationally for about 18 years.  During those years many of my colleagues came from countries that spoke other language than English.  During those 18 years I also received a doctorate from an Ivy League University.

This is the FIRST time I have ever heard the explanation that an Introduction was anything other than an "Introduction to the TOPIC".  It never dawned on me that "INTRODUCTION" meant telling people where the bathroom is.  In every other venue I have ever worked and in fact every single lactation conference I have attended there has been an Introduction to the Topic and there has also been a chance for Dialogue at the End.  At Cornell and FASEB and all the international conferences I attended -- an introduction and discussion were considered OBLIGATORY.

As for Questions and Answers -- or Discussion -- this has always applied to the topic at hand.  Presenters are expected to keep the discussion on the topic at hand. In every single ILCA conference I have been to there have been questions at the end and the speakers usually redirect the questioners back to the topic at hand. 

So, I feel that since the IBLCE is an INTERNATIONAL organization, they should consider the fact that professionals such as myself might not find such implicit assumptions based on a model that applies to some universe I never happened to have participated in.  This is not listed on their website and it was not understood by me and I have been attending conferences since before IBLCE came into existence.  

I am SHOCKED that a lecture only model would be encouraged and interaction discouraged. This is not the way to move away from sitting in a chair and merely letting the information wash over you passively.  If this is a model for the medical profession, I can understand when some medical professionals do not manage to pick up any new additional information through passive learning.

As for non English speakers who come from any of the 33 other countries I worked in other than the United States, I would imagine they might have more difficulty than I did in understanding that "Introduction" only applies to telling you who is there and where the WC, Loo, toilette, etc happens to be.  Ditto on the notion that participation might not be considered an obligatory part of the learning process --- but something to actively discourage.

Words escape me to describe the degree to which I am finding my experience to be completely contrary to what is implicitly considered to be the normal model of training.

Sincerely,

Susan E. Burger, MHS, PhD, IBCLC

  

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