Nofia's post brought to mind my engineer-husband who is an engineer but
without a degree. Tom's been in the field forever, and has been working on
his degree for the past 14 years, one or two classes at a time, while also
trying to be a father and a husband. He is good at what he does also, and
deserves to be paid for his knowledge while working on the piece of paper.

So I guess I'm thinking about engineers, their exam, and their PRE-exam. Did
you know that most engineering students take an exam in their junior year---
it's called the EIT (Engineer-In-Training).  According to my husband, this
test is valuable for those who have knowledge but lack experience (which
applies mostly to young college students) and want to be able to sit for the
engineering exam sooner. For those who have lots of experience in the field
already (like my husband), this pre-exam is not necessary.

Now wouldn't this be perfect for IBCLC wannabes? Pass a preliminary exam on
lactation to gain "resident" status. It would mean that you have the basic
knowledge and are just working on experience.  What do you all think?  Might
give people like the Israelis something to start with that gives them some
credibility in their country.  One thing's for sure: our current system does
not meet needs internationally yet, and needs continuing revision towards
that goal.  This might be one way of recognizing a student status that gives
credibility to the term.

-Lisa Marasco, BA, IBCLC