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    CHILD LIFE Concentration

    What is child life?

    A child life specialist is a professional that works predominately in the healthcare field as a part of the multidisciplinary team serving pediatric patients and their families. Child life specialists work to minimize the fears associated with stressful life events (such as a hospitalization), foster positive development, and normalize the healthcare environment. Child life specialists do this through medical preparation for procedures and surgeries, medical play, therapeutic play, normative play, and information about procedures and available coping. Play is a safe medium for understanding a child's fears and concerns, learning about his/her treatment plan, and normalizing the hospital environment for the child and his/her family.  Child life specialists work in healthcare settings, such as hospitals and doctor’s offices, and community settings, such as bereavement centers, dental offices, adoption facilities, and court system.  To learn more about what a child life specialist is, visit: http://www.childlife.org/child-life-profession. 

    Applying to the child life concentration

    Once students concentrating in child life have completed 12 human development course credit hours and 60 hours overall, they need to apply to the child life concentration. Application and formal acceptance into the child life concentration is required for admission into upper level courses, such as HD 426 and HD 496.  You must have a minimum GPA of a 2.5 GPA to be considered. 

    Internships

    One of the requirements for the child life concentration is the completion of a child life internship (HD 496).  Child life internships are unique in that students apply and compete for an internship at a program of their choice.
    Internships are completed during a student's last semester. Students apply for internships the semester before the internship. Child life internships are extremely competitive. For example, hospitals may receive as many as 50-60 applicants, but they only accept around 2 students per semester. Because internships are highly competitive, students typically apply to around 25 different hospitals in hopes of obtaining one internship. It is important to note that students must obtain an internship on their own.  Advisors are available to help navigate the process.

    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 (CCLS), and hours with children in a variety of settings. Most internship sites prefer for an application to have at least a 3.0 GPA, 100 practicum hours, and 100 volunteer hours with hospitalized and well children. Well-child hours are simply hours of experience with non-hospitalized children.  Examples include volunteering for after-school programs with school age children, supervising a youth and adolescent group, or gaining experience in a nursery program.   

    Students complete their internship during their last semester.  Students register for HD 496 (12 credit hours).  During the semester, students will complete 560 hours of child life experiences in a hospital, experiencing different rotations.  The goal is to help students transition to a professional and obtain the competencies needed to be a Certified Child Life Specialist.  During the internship, students should only register for 12 hours. For more department information about internships, visit (link to child life internship procedures).   For more information about internships from the Association of Child Life Professionals, visit:  http://www.childlife.org/certification/students/internship-deadlines.


    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. 

    It is student’s responsibility to set up practicum opportunities. To obtain practicums, students can search for opportunities in hospitals of their interest.  Students also have the option for obtaining some practicum hours in Tuscaloosa through registering for HD 491.  Remember, most hospitals require a minimum of 100 practicum hours to be eligible for child life internships, and it is the student’s responsibility to obtain these experiences.  

    Contact The Department

    • 214 Judy Bonner Child Development Center, Box 870160, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
    • (205) 348-6158
    • (205) 348-8153
    • hdfsstudentservices@ches.ua.edu
    • hdfs.ches.ua.edu

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