I can understand the anxiety of those who have not taken the exam before and want to have some more experience with slides beforehand. Those of us who have taken the exam once have some point of reference. Those who have never taken it don't really know WHAT to expect. They may not realize that their years of dealing with common problems and with growing babies and children will stand them in good stead. The exam is not all rare situations. The questions are not primarily trick questions trying to trap you. It's like preparing for the birth of a first baby. You can take preparation for childbirth classes and read lots of books and listen to others' experiences, but you don't really know how much it will affect YOU as a unique individual, and how well YOU will cope with the demands of childbirth at the time. The next time, you know you have been able to handle it before and that you will be able to again, even though it will be hard. But the first time, you don't know if what someone else says is painful (or not) will feel like to you. I can remember how worried I felt before taking the exam, not knowing quite what would be asked of me. I also remember one anxious candidate who ended up seated in the back of the auditorium with a poor view of the slides who became so unnerved that she burst into tears on the first one. That certainly did not help her evaluate the slides carefully in the one minute allowed for each. I believe that slides are no longer used, but that each candidate receives a booklet with color photos, so that you can go through them at your own pace and spend less time on the ones that are easier for you and more time when you are unsure. Another helpful thing is that you can write out on a separate paper concerns you have on any question on the exam (for example, if you think answer A is best because of this, but B is equally correct because of that.) The comments are reviewed and some questions may actually not be used if they were ambiguous or had errors. I agree that we need to have lots of hands-on experience, and that we don't want to see candidates who care only about passing the test but don't absorb the commitment and dedication to promoting, protecting and supporting breastfeeding that we share. But it is helpful, I think, to see pictures of various clinical situations that we may not encounter frequently. I know that the photos inside the covers in Riordan and Auerbach, the helpful slides I have seen in various breastfeeding workshops and courses, and the photos in pamphlets such as Kay Hoover's thrush handout or Sarah Danner's pamphlets on feeding babies with special needs (the Dancer hand position) have been very helpful to me as a frame of reference. I can use them to review and to compare with situations I see clinically. And they are there to look at over and over again, whereas the mother and baby you see with a problem may be a one-time encounter. So, good luck to those of you facing the exam this summer. You still have time to do a lot of good preparation and learning in the days ahead, not just for the exam, but for all the situations you will encounter in the future while helping mothers and babies. The exam is looking for entry level competency. You will continue to add to your knowledge afterwards, too! You are taking a good first step in you learning just by being on Lactnet. Anne Altshuler, RN, MS, IBCLC and LLL leader in Madison, WI [log in to unmask]