Dear all:

How many of us have loved Diane Weisseninger's many posts that reflect her position on "Watch 
your language"?  Semantics is immensely important!.  Lawyers make a living on the fine details of 
semantics.  

I'm reaching my limit today so I am scrunching this second thought it.  I am highly insulted that 
someone who has studied far fewer years than myself can have the nerve to tell me that I (as a 
nonMD and a nonRN) should just go back and study more.  

I have a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology.
I have a Master of Health Sciences from Johns Hopkins University (and the former Dean of Johns 
Hopkins University of Publich Health and Hygiene who recently won the Lasker prize in medicine 
rightly corrected me when I felt that the MHS was not well recognized because he was very proud 
of his Master of Health Sciences)
I have a Doctor of Philosophy from Cornell University.

I have studied with excellent breastfeeding medicine researchers and even when I was working on 
my MHS at Johns Hopkins I felt that the information that was common knowledge in 1984 has not 
been disseminated yet to the vast majority of pediatricians.  Therefore, I have an enormous 
respect for breastfeeding medicine specialist who have taken the extra steps to gain knowledge in 
the area of breastfeeding.  With restrictions on funding for basic research in infant nutrition from 
a "noncorporate source" it is almost impossible for any researcher to have sufficient funds to 
conduct research in this area without succombing to taking funds from the food industry.

I feel highly insulted that after all the training I have undergone (I can't even count the number of 
years I spent studying) that anyone would suggest that I should spend another 4 years go to 
medical school and who knows how many years of internship and residency to get the typical 6 
week course in infant and child nutrition or less to be able to "speak apropriately to MDs".  
Moreover, in defense of my peers who also come from backgrounds other than MDs and RNs, I 
have an enormous respect for their ability to communicate to these two professions as well. The 
ability to communicate in a constructive manner AND provide evidence-based information as well 
has nothing to do with having an RN or an MD and everything to do with the ability to keep an 
open mind to new ideas and to realize that advocating for autonmy and rights is a professional 
and an important step towards protecting our clients.

And I also want to make it clear that I have an enormous respect for the RNs and the MDs that do 
work on the front lines to promote breastfeeding while keeping a PROFESSIONAL respect for the 
ability of a multitude of other backgrounds that contribute to healthy breastfeeding.  At the same 
time I do disagree with the (thankfully) minority of RNs and MDs who continually diminish the 
contributions of these many and varied backgrounds and narrow-mindedly think of themselves as 
superior when they may not have had nearly as much specific training in breastfeeding support.

Best regards, 

Susan E. Burger, MHS, PhD, IBCLC

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET email list is powered by LISTSERV (R).
There is only one LISTSERV. To learn more, visit:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html