In addition to becoming expert on almost every imaginable topic concerning birth, our students learn to:

• Identify learning objectives
  
• Develop value-specific study strategies
  
• Read critically and objectively
  
• Locate available resources and experts
  
• Initiate relationships with mentors
  
• File information so that it is retrievable and revisable
  
• Judge academic suppositions against the science and physiology of birth
  
• Cultivate consistent study habits
  
• Organize data for multiple purposes
  
• Set immediate and long-term goals and execute a plan for achieving them
  
• Prioritize multiple tasks
  
• Determine what information necessitates memorization and what information can be filed
  
• Create a customized encyclopedic resource
  
• Conduct independent research
  
• Challenge medical and obstetrical protocol
  
• Distinguish fact from opinion
  
• Evaluate data for academic integrity
  
• Document and appropriately credit all sources
  
• Establish review habits
  
• Develop test-taking skills
  
• Practice meticulous record-keeping
  
• Develop confidence in her ability to handle emergencies
  
• Plan and organize for optimal time and resource management
  
• Integrate ‘head’ knowledge with ‘hands on’ experience
  
• Hone critical thinking and decision making ability
  
• Translate life experiences into the learning process
  
• Fine-tune communication skills
  
• Assess needs of individual clients
  
• Prepare on every level for any possible birthing scenario
  
• Explore related areas of interest toward development of specialties
  
• Establish counseling guidelines and parameters of responsibility
  
• Organize support for parents’ rights
  
• Inspire confidence in birthing couples as competent decision-makers
  
• Develop a comprehensive practice plan
  
• Create and publish original educational material for parents
  
• Assess and improve community resources
  
• Navigate the politics of midwifery
  
• Investigate alternatives to reliance on technology
  
• Stay current with developments and trends in women’s health
  
• Encourage the pursuit of health and wellness in her family, friends, and clients
  
• Prepare for the business aspects of an independent midwifery practice
  
• Create community identity as home birth advocate
  
• Exercise an extreme degree of accountability and professional integrity
  
• Accept the responsibility of the historical legacy of midwifery
  
• Articulate and promote the ‘with woman’ midwifery philosophy
  

And you thought it was just a midwifery course!!!!