Child Life Clinical Internship Program

Overview

We, as Certified Child Life Specialists at Randall Children’s Hospital, will strive to offer interns superior hands-on training based on the professionally identified core curriculum of child life practice. We collectively embrace training which is supportive, collaborative, and action oriented.

The purpose of the child life clinical internship program at Randall Children’s Hospital is to prepare individuals to sit for the Certified Child Life Specialist Exam and for their first job as a child life specialist. This 17-week, 600-hour, full-time internship follows guidelines established by the Association of Child Life Professionals. This includes one week of orientation followed by rotations in inpatient and outpatient areas. The internship provides the student with an opportunity to implement their classroom knowledge into practice. Our program requires schedule flexibility, with rotations beginning as early as 7:30am or ending as late as 11:30pm, including weekends. We provide clinical services to various inpatient and outpatient areas and coordinate a variety of programs and special activities. Interns are involved in the planning and implementation of developmentally and emotionally supportive programming for all developmental ages. Interns are expected to incorporate play, emotional support, healthcare education, and family-centered care to enhance the social, emotional, and physical well-being of children and families in the healthcare setting.

Goals of the Child Life Clinical Internship Program

To provide interns with a 17-week, 600-hour full-time internship that will meet the entry-level requirements for professional certification.
To offer a curriculum which emphasizes the psychosocial and developmental needs of children.
To help interns learn how to create and provide meaningful therapeutic interventions and activities to patients and families in one-on-one and group settings.
To offer interns skilled mentors who will oversee their direct learning during each rotation.
To provide interns with consistent weekly supervision, encouraging self-reflection and an opportunity to integrate observations and experiences with the professional scope of child life practice and issues of ethical responsibility within a healthcare environment.
To help interns learn how to best assist patients and families in adjusting to the hospital environment.
To provide interns with the experience of learning within a multidisciplinary team.
To participate in the facilitation and delivery of patient- and family-centered care.
To help interns learn how to accurately document patient interactions to support the profession, establish validity, and provide other team members with information related to a patient’s development and coping.
To expose interns to the support provided during end-of-life for patients and families.
To provide interns with a strong foundation in psychological preparation and procedural support

Internship Requirements

To be considered for Randall Children’s Hospital’s child life clinical internship program, individuals must meet the following minimum requirements:

Applicants must have or be seeking a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree (minimum of senior status) in a field related to child life.
Minimum GPA of 3.0
Confirmation of Child Life Course or In-Progress form
Applicant does need to be currently enrolled in a university to be eligible for this internship.

Applicants must meet the eligibility guidelines for educational requirements established by the ACLP.
Applicants must have completed or be in the process of completing a minimum of a 100-hour child life practicum under the supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist.
If practicum in progress, please provide ACLP Practicum In-Progress form.

Minimum experience of 200 hours with atypically-developing or hospitalized children (Practicum hours may count towards these hours)
Minimum experience of 200 hours with typically-developing or well children

Applicants must also meet the requirements to be a volunteer at Randall Children’s Hospital, including: an interview and orientation with the volunteer coordinator, background check and proof of immunizations, including up-to-date tuberculosis test. Applicants must adhere strictly to volunteer policies, including wearing Legacy issued photo identification at all times.

Application packet contents

To be considered for an internship at Randall Children’s Hospital, an application must contain the following items in a single envelope: (Please note: Incomplete applications or applications post marked after the deadline will not be considered.)

Association of Child Life Professionals Child Life Common Internship Application
Two professional letters of recommendation along with the ACLP Application Recommendation form (See form included in ACLP Child Life Common Internship Application)
- At least one letter should be from someone who has directly observed and can assess your work with children, parents, and/or professionals in the last year (i.e. practicum/volunteer supervisor, employer or advisor)
- Please have the individual writing the letter address the following in their letter of recommendation:
  - The internship candidate’s current strengths
  - The internship candidate’s current challenges or areas for growth
- Each letter and form must be signed on official letterhead, in a sealed envelope that is signed on the seal
Current resume
Unofficial transcripts from academic institutions – Must verify minimum of a 3.0 GPA
Association of Child Life Professionals Eligibility Assessment
Verification of completion of a practicum (minimum of 100 hours) - Please see ACLP Practicum In-Progress form if practicum is in progress.
Copy of final evaluation from practicum (required if completed practicum)
Randall Children’s Hospital volunteer department application

Application deadlines and offer dates:

At this time our internship program is put on hold until further notice. We will update this webpage as soon as a plan is made to restart our program. Please check back for more information at a later date.

For direct questions please email: childlife@lhs.org

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