Disclaimer:  I am a *former* employee of IBLCE.  I am speaking solely for
myself here.

A couple of points:  you all who are reading Lactnet are not the ones I
worry about, in terms of keeping up with the latest research, literature
and practice!  As Barbara Wilson-Clay pointed out, it's really astonishing
to encounter people who do NOT keep up with their field.  You all would be
amazed to know how many IBCLCs are not members of ILCA, or have not even
*heard* of ILCA, for example.  (therefore, obviously, not getting JHL)  I
don't think any of us want to face the reality that lots of people don't
take continuing education as seriously as we think they should.

The argument about taking an "entry-level" exam needs to be looked at from
a different perspective.  Each year the exam is re-written by a new panel
of experts.  Although over half the questions on any given exam have been
on exams in some previous year, a LOT of questions are new.  And every
single question is scrutinized to see if it still represents the latest
thinking in the field of lactation science.  So the 'baseline' exam you
took ten years ago is not the same baseline that represents current
thinking in the field.  There will be challenging questions on the exam,
even for experienced IBCLCs, because the exam changes as current practice
changes.

Someone asked if IBLCE will make more money by requiring that 10-year
recertificants take the exam.  The answer is NO.  As some folks on this
list can attest, the 10-year recertification research pathway involved more
than just CERPs, and the application to recertify by the research pathway
was a good bit more complex than the 5-year recert by CERPs application.
Therefore, the fee was the SAME as for IBCLCs recertifying by exam - that
is, the standard exam fee reduced by 20% (I think).  No matter what the
method of recertifying at ten years, the fee would have been the same as
the exam fee.

I think we can hold our heads up proudly and talk about how our certifying
body holds us to the *strictest* standards when we talk about this
recertification requirement.  When I compare this situation to my RN
licensure in Virginia, where I maintain my license by simply sending in a
check every two years, I do believe that mothers and babies should be far
more reassured by my IBCLC credential than my RN license!

Mary Riley Renard, RN, BSN, IBCLC
Vienna Virginia  USA

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