Anne Altshuler, thank you for your articulate and level-headed comments
about the IBCLC exam and the requirements to sit for it.I have been
following this discussion with great interest, as I am interested in
taking this exam in a few years. Yes, I have a college degree. . . that
does reduce the number of hours I need before I sit for it. But I still
need a few more years of LLLL experience before I will qualify for the
exam.Even once I reach the minimum-required number of years of being a
Leader (5), I am still not sure I will feel ready to take the exam. . .
I really feel that I have an awful lot of bfing knowledge. . . yet I
also feel I still have a lot to learn!!

You have stated in an intelligent way a lot of what I have wanted to
say, esp. about  why having a college degree allows a reduction in
number of practice hours required. Most of what we learn in college that
is valuable is not the particulars of the courses taken, it is , as you
said, a demonstration of ability to read and write and express ourselves
at a certain level (not to say those who have not attended college
cannot do this. . . ), ability to do intensive study for a certain
length of time, etc. etc. You really said it much better than I can. .
it is late and I'm tired.

It is true that most of us do not have a degree in human lactation. . .
let's face it, when most of us went to college such a program did not
exist!!(does any college offer a B.A. in Human Lactation these days??).I
have a B.A. and an M.A. in Economics. . . well that does not directly
prepare me for lactation consulting. . . on the other hand I could have
gone to medical school, for example, with such an undergraduate
background.In medical school the assumption is that if you have done
very well in college, you will be able to learn the science and medicine
needed to become a doctor. . . you have proven yourself in a certain
basic way by  completeing the B.A.(I realize most medical students have
a science background, but this is not absolutely required. . . M.D.'s
out there, correct me if I am wrong about this. . . . !!)

Any  way, I am rambling a bit now. . .

Ellen Vegh, B.A., M.A., LLLL. . . in Pittsburgh, PA