We were the first to believe that an excellent academic midwifery education could be achieved through a correspondence course. We designed a midwifery curriculum and a system that works. We are continually revising and updating as well as incorporating innovative educational concepts into our midwifery program. More than 2,200 enrollments and 31 years have taught as a lot. There are many distinctive and outstanding features of our midwifery education program.

We’ve learned where a midwifery student needs direction and where it is best for her to determine her own direction. For example, the student may submit completed sections of the course in any order that makes sense to her, she may create her own documentation system, and may choose the books she wants for the required critiques and reports.

Just getting started is a challenge for many midwifery students so we provide extra help in many areas concerning organization and productivity. We give extensive instructions and assistance in several areas, such as creating topical databases. We have developed forms and checklists for every aspect of the course: reading evaluation, cover sheets for evaluation of each assignment, extension requests, change of address, book reviews, and many more.

There are many assignments and worksheets designed to help the midwifery student assess her beginning knowledge, track her progress, outline her goals, and solve her logistical problems. Some help us know more about the student so that we can be more effective in helping her through the midwifery course. Students receive personalized advisories in the first few months after submission of Orientation Assignments.

We offer incentives, awards and opportunities to earn extensions, publish a regular newsletter and provide daily assistance via e-mail. Our Online Midwifery Study Group is a terrific source of support.

We place great emphasis on meticulous documentation. We teach several unique organizational methods to ensure that the student’s midwifery education investment pays long-term dividends. Our theory is that unless the work is retrievable and revisable it is no more than ‘busy work.’ We aren’t interested in keeping the student busy; we are interested in helping her create a comprehensive, well-researched and documented resource that will serve her indefinitely.

As our midwifery curriculum has gone through revisions, our procedures have also been carefully examined and refined. Initially we required research ‘papers’. After a few years we instituted an entirely new method of presentation which does not require writing skills, creates a lower level of anxiety for the student, and is actually a much more efficient means of proving the extent to knowledge on each topic.

We designed a reading evaluation system which helps the student document and evaluate printed matter without having to spend a lot of time writing book reviews.

Because workshop and conference attendance is just not possible for most students, we initiated evaluation of approved conference tapes.

Because we believe that most of our students are willing to go beyond the midwifery curriculum requirements, we offer our enrollees many opportunities to earn Associated Education Units (AEUs) toward our Award of Academic Achievement or Award of Academic Excellence, rather than the Certificate of Successful Completion.