Preparing for the Child Life Internship
To be eligible to sit for the Child Life Professional Certification Examination, students must complete a 600 hour clinical internship under the supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist. Child life internships are unique in that students apply and compete for an internship at a child life program of their choice. As a potential child life student, it is important to understand that child life internships are extremely competitive.
What are internship sites looking for in an applicant? As a student in the child life concentration, it is important that you work towards a strong GPA, practicum hours under the supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist, and hours with children in a variety of settings. Most internship sites prefer for an application to have 100 practicum hours and 100 well-child hours. Well-child hours are simply hours of experience with non-hospitalized children. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required for most internship sites.
What are internship sites looking for in an applicant? As a student in the child life concentration, it is important that you work towards a strong GPA, practicum hours under the supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist, and hours with children in a variety of settings. Most internship sites prefer for an application to have 100 practicum hours and 100 well-child hours. Well-child hours are simply hours of experience with non-hospitalized children. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required for most internship sites.
Practicum
Practicum is the shadowing of a Certified Child Life Specialist as an introductory experience into the profession. Practicum allows you to observe child life interventions to gain a better understanding of the field. Practicum settings may vary, but most practicum opportunities will be either in a pediatric hospital or a pediatric unit of an adult hospital. Other settings include, but are not limited to: therapeutic, medical or health related camp settings; hospice, grief, or support centers; rehabilitation settings.
Students at UA have the opportunity to pursue a local practicum opportunity as an elective course. This introductory experience allows child life students to begin developing skills in introducing services, assessing patients’ needs, and implementing play. In addition, many students often take advantage of practicum programs outside of Tuscaloosa, particularly during the summer, as a way to observe in a large pediatric facility and continue to develop their skills and knowledge.
The internship process can be a challenging one; however, students seem to always report growing substantially during the process and shifting from a student to a professional. At UA, the child life faculty will be available to help students identify potential sites for practicum and internships as well as navigate through the application processes.
Students at UA have the opportunity to pursue a local practicum opportunity as an elective course. This introductory experience allows child life students to begin developing skills in introducing services, assessing patients’ needs, and implementing play. In addition, many students often take advantage of practicum programs outside of Tuscaloosa, particularly during the summer, as a way to observe in a large pediatric facility and continue to develop their skills and knowledge.
The internship process can be a challenging one; however, students seem to always report growing substantially during the process and shifting from a student to a professional. At UA, the child life faculty will be available to help students identify potential sites for practicum and internships as well as navigate through the application processes.