Comprehensive Lactation Consultant Exam Review (Smith, Comprehensive Lactation Consultant Exam Review) 3rd Edition

Review of Comprehensive Lactation Consultant Exam Review by my wife:This year I had to re-certify by exam for my IBCLC. I had heard about Linda Smith's practice tests and thought they would be a good adjunct to my other study tools. I found this book and was completely blown away by the extent and the value of the contents. Not only does the book have MANY, MANY practice tests but you can also do all of those practice tests on-line! This makes scoring easy and you can even look at the answers and rationale for each missed question immediately following the exam which was an added learning tool. The computerized format was consistent with the computer test I took this year which was also helpful in more fully preparing me for the exam. This exam review book is incredible and I highly recommend it to anyone who is preparing to sit for the IBLCE exam.

This book has an amazing library of imagines comparable to the IBCLC exam. I used the online review option primarily. I would recommend this to a colleague sitting for the IBCLC exam.I've been a neonatal RN x7 years, CLC x4 years and recently passed my IBCLC exam over the summer. I consider myself to have moderate lactation experience prior to sitting for the exam.

This was a great study tool when I was preparing for my IBLCE. For someone like me who tends to start recognizing questions, it is crucial to have a large number of questions to use for practice. The problems with the book were that some of the questions were repeated, and some of the answers were not "keyed" right, as in it said the correct answer was "c" but the explanation was for why "b" was the correct answer, which can be confusing if you don't read the rationales. Otherwise, the online portion was fantastic, and it was great to help you get comfortable with the format of the exam.

I should preface my review with the disclosure that my primary profession is already in the world of pediatric medicine and so I am sure that some of my struggles with the questions were related to having background knowledge that was peripheral and made me over-think things--though I do feel that my overall concerns would stay unchanged. The case studies that are the first portion of this review book are absolutely awful--1/2 of the questions under each of the case studies are either not related to the case study itself or are confusing because you can't tell what is being asked for (does the author want you to answer based on the information in the case study above or in general circumstances? The latter seemed to be more correct). The explanations of the answers for the questions don't necessarily address all the components as to why the "wrong" answers are incorrect or don't address some of the answers at all. There are some outright discrepancies (case study #4--the body of the case study addresses doxycycline and the question asks about tetracycline), reference based questions (again, case study #4, there are questions about medications that are not so common that I imagine LCs would know the risk category off the tops of their heads or the AAPs policy statement about them without looking it up in a reference text, nor is it within the scope of practice of the LC to be directing mothers about medications, rather just providing them with the information and guidance to speak with baby's primary care provider or their own), and some very pointed and emotionally/judgement based answers as well as some that I feel are outside the scope of LC practice as it stands.Another frustration is how the questions are worded in general. I have taken 3 sets of nursing-based boards (NCLEX, CPNP-PC, CPNP-AC) in my lifetime for certification and, if I ventured to guess, I have probably taken 6000+ practice questions as that is how I learn best. Suffice it to say, I know the "formula"--I have long since learned how standardized questions are created in order to allow you to narrow it down to 2 answers--the wording in both the question and answers are critical--"most likely," "first," "most appropriate," "initial,"--there are all part of the testing game--the little things like those words that are intended to help you narrow your answers down (or trip you up). Repeatedly I ran into struggles with the use of that language in the questions and answers in this book--I felt like it wasn't being used objectively--and that's not because I got questions wrong--that was bound to happen--but when you read the reasoning behind the correct and incorrect answers it didn't all add up. I was also a bit surprised when some of the correct answers were the emotionally charged or judgement based responses as, while we all know that supportive words are often part of what our role entails, it shouldn't be part of an objective testing process.I think that there is something to be gained from this text and you will certainly learn through trial and error at the very least--I don't regret the purchase, but for those of you who have even taken any medically based boards before (or even just done standardized testing), prepare to be frustrated at least to some degree.Update: Since I initially provided my review I have finished all of the practice questions and tests and I am sorry to have to downgrade my review. This text is thoroughly exhaustive and subjective--and while I think there is valid information to be gained, the fact that I started to find myself answer the way I figured the author wanted to me to (subjective responses, emotionally charged) just so I wouldn't get the question wrong was frustrating. The pictures are in some ways helpful and in some ways frustrating - I find it annoying to have to have a computer with internet access open and next to me in order to do >50% of the questions and then half the time the pictures don't necessarily help you answer. One in particular - a picture of a crying baby--how are you supposed to deduce from a picture of a crying newborn that you need to ask a mother about her vaginal discharge???? Given the derth of review books available I suppose that I don't regret the purchase but it was an exhausting and frustrating trial of my patience.

Very good review bookContains review/practice questions and answers that will sharpen your skills in answering questions in timely fashion. It has a lot of pictures in vivid colors which makes it more understandable and retainable.It helped me in passing the IBCLC exam the first time.I highly recommend as a very good and helpful review book.

I've used this exam review book before, and I remember it being pretty good, so I bought it again. My poor husband has had to hear me complain for the past three months while I've used it. There are terrible, inexcusable errors just like everyone else has said. You choose the right answer, the book says it's the wrong answer, and it says the correct answer is the one you chose---God almighty. The photos are horrible. The essential information is nearly impossible to see because the photos are so tiny. Also, on the website when you look at photos for Practice Exam, Exam A, and Exam B, there are HTML errors where you cannot read the question completely. There's one question where the answer is on the previous question. Another is when there was no photo when the question asks specifically about that photo (in the photo questions section).

The material and examples of how to think about the questions on the IBCLC exam, are excellent prep. I purchased many review products... and I could have skipped the others. This helped the most! Thank you, Linda!