Child Life Services Internship Program
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Child Life Specialists provide emotional support before, during and after treatment through play and psychological preparation for medical procedures. Apply to our internship to help create positive hospital experiences for our patients.
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Our internship is an intensive, clinically based program which meets the child life certification requirements regarding clinical experience. Our full-time program is designed for senior and graduate level students from the fields of child life, child development, early childhood education or other related fields of study which include a strong child development emphasis. Individuals not affiliated with a university or college but who hold at least a bachelor’s degree in one of the above listed fields are also encouraged to apply. Selection of interns is based on previous experience working with children, completion and recommendation from a child life practicum program, successful completion of all child life coursework, interview and references.
Our internship program will only accept students who have completed 100 hours of experience with well infants, children, youth and/or families. A child life practicum with a minimum of 100 hours must also be completed by the time of the application deadline is required in order to be applicable for this internship.
Internships are offered twice a year with two interns participating in each session. Currently, our program does not offer a summer session. Please visit the ACLP website for more information about application deadlines and offer dates.
Upon being accepted to the program, all students must be cleared through a background investigation which is arranged and paid for by the hospital. Students must meet our Occupational Health requirements which includes the completion of our medical form by your private physician and up-to-date immunizations.
Each intern is assigned to a certified child life specialist who will provide ongoing clinical supervision. Internship experiences include:
- Two clinical rotations
- Seminars on topics related to child life practice
- Charting and documentation
- Visits to local child life programs
- Weekly written assignments
- Two case study presentations
- Quality improvement project
- Weekly supervision sessions
After applications are reviewed and interviews are conducted, selections are made by the internship coordinators and education committee. Acceptance into the program is based on capacity and the qualifications of applicants.
There is a non-refundable commitment internship fee. Housing, meals, transportation, parking and additional expenses to support the learning process are the responsibility of the intern.
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A completed application includes the following:
- We require the completion of the Children’s National Hospital application form.
- Students may also submit the ACLP common application in addition to the Children’s National Hospital form.
- We will not accept the ACLP common application by itself
- Resume/curriculum vitae
- Unofficial transcripts from each college or university attended verifying a 3.0 GPA or higher
- ACLP Eligibility Assessment and Course Review
- Successful completion and documentation of ten core curriculum classes, including a course taught by a CCLS, as approved by the Association of Child Life Professionals Eligibility Assessment and Course Review
- Please note we do not accept any requirement that is in-progress
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Please email the following items directly to the Child Life Internship coordinators:
- Proof of experience with well infants, children, youth and/or families
- Proof of completion from the applicant’s child life practicum placement
- The evaluation tool/form(s) from a CCLS supervisor of child life practicum experience that was utilized to evaluate the student’s performance during the child life practicum training
- Please note we do not accept any requirement that is in-progress
- Three letters of recommendation
- Our program requires three letters of recommendation
- Each letter of recommendation should be written on letterhead and must be signed, scanned and emailed directly from the reference to the internship coordinators
- One letter of recommendation must be from the practicum coordinator or another CCLS who has directly observed your work with children in the health care setting
- Students may submit the ACLP common application recommendation forms in addition to their letters of recommendation
- We will not accept the ACLP common application recommendation form by itself
- A short video clip (two minutes or less) explaining why you want to complete your internship at Children’s National Hospital and what makes you the ideal candidate
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For more information about our Child Life Services Internship, please contact:
Erin Stanford, M.S., CCLS and Kandace Younger, CCLS
Child Life Internship Coordinators
Child Life and Integrative Care Services Department
Children's National Hospital
111 Michigan Ave NW
Washington, DC 20010
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