Child Life Internship - Blank Childrens Hospital
Program Overview
As a teaching hospital, Blank Children's Hospital is committed to advancing the careers of medical professionals - including Child Life specialists. The Child Life internship program at Blank Children's Hospital fulfills the requirements to become eligible to sit for the national certification exam for Child Life specialists, based on requirements from the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP).
The program provides students opportunities for the following experiences: planning and implementing recreational, therapeutic and educational activities for patients in the playroom and at bedside; preparing patients for medical procedures and providing support during procedures; attending patient rounds and supervising volunteers.
- Our Child Life department will not be accepting applications for the Fall 2025 Child Life Internship session. We are sorry for the inconvenience, and we look forward to resuming our Child Life internship program for the Spring 2026 semester.
Program Information and Requirements
The Child Life internship at Blank Children's hospital is 600 hours over 15 weeks. Internships are held twice a year in the Spring and Fall.
Blank Children’s Hospital follows the Internship Application Deadline and Offer Date schedule set by the ACLP. Please refer to the ACLP Clinical Internship webpage for more information.
To qualify for the internship program, students must have:
- Current affiliation with an Academic Institution through duration of the internship.
- 100 hours of experience with well infants, children, youth and/or families.
- 100 hours of experience with infants, children, youth and/or families in stressful situations, healthcare settings and/or programs designed for children with special needs, preferably under the supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist.
- Completed the academic course work portion of the ACLP eligibility assessment or are actively enrolled in an ACLP endorsed academic program.
If accepted into the internship program, Child Life interns must meet all requirements of the internship. Failure to complete the requirements may cause the student to receive an incomplete or termination of the internship.
- All interns must be affiliated with a university during their internship.
- Complete orientation that includes essential teaching modules as well as observation in all clinical areas. We follow the learning modules recommended by the ACLP. .
- Complete assignments and reflections as set by the Child Life Student Committee.
- Daily journals of hospital experiences to be turned in weekly.
- Prepare and present a case study on a patient following guidelines.
- Create and plan a project specific to Child Life Therapy and present to staff.
- Complete interventions with increasing independence under the supervision of a Child Life specialist.
- Weekly meetings with Child Life specialists to discuss clinical and personal experiences.
- Complete self evaluations following each rotation.
The Child Life intern will be required to work 40 hours per week including day, evening and weekend shifts compliant with the area at that time.
Application Process
Blank Children’s Hospital is accepting the ACLP’s Internship Readiness Common Application. Applications should be saved as a PDF document and submitted via email to dm_childlifestudents@unitypoint.org. No additional materials are required at this time.
- Save ACLP’s Internship Readiness Common Application as a PDF.
- Please be sure to attach your Eligibility Assessment and unofficial transcripts to your application, as these are required components to the Internship Readiness Common Application.
- We ask that students ensure that their PDF file is saved correctly to ensure readability, watch this informational video for instructions on how to save your PDF.
- All applications emailed should include the student’s name, semester and year of the internship in the subject line (ex. Jane Smith Fall 2024).