Child Life Extended Internship
To create a more diverse child life profession, representative of the patients and families we serve, we are committed to offering candidates who identify barriers in the field of child life an extended structured internship to increase accessibility to the profession. At this time, we are pleased to offer one intern a year the opportunity to train and learn the clinical skills necessary to sit for child life certification. See below for further requirements and eligibility.
Direct questions to childlifestudents@cookchildrens.org
The online portal will open for applications for the extended 2026 internship on Thursday, June 5, 2025 at noon central standard time. The portal will close on the deadline of Thursday, July 17, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. central standard time.
Diversity scholarship
The Association of Child Life Professionals has funding for a limited number of scholarships to help support students of diverse backgrounds and experiences during their internships. Applications are available following each internship application cycle.
Completed application details
- ACLP New Common Internship Readiness Application
- Essay (please submit a separate PDF document in the online application submission portal):
- Please answer the following questions with specific experience/s or example/s.
- 300-word limit
- Identify and describe the barriers you have experienced on the pathway to becoming a child life specialist.
- How do you envision this internship personally impacting your child life path?
- How will you use what you learn from this experience to create positive change in the healthcare setting?
- Please answer the following questions with specific experience/s or example/s.
- Confidentiality Agreement-Available in the online application submission portal
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) Agreement-Available in the online application submission portal
- ACLP Eligibility Assessment
- Unofficial academic transcript(s) verifying courses/program required by the ACLP Eligibility Assessment
Program information and requirements
- At this time, we offer the extended structured internship once a year starting in January
- The extended internship is 26 weeks/6 months of part-time experience (3 days a week)
- Intern will obtain 620 hours of clinical experience
- Some rotations may require evening and/or weekend hours
- Intern will complete the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP) Internship Curriculum Modules and a variety of assignments
- Required immunizations:
- Full Hepatitis B Series
- MMR
- TDaP
- Varicella vaccination or titer
- Influenza Immunization
- Negative Tuberculin (TB) Test
Applicant criteria
Individuals are encouraged to apply if they meet the following criteria.
- Individuals are NOT allowed to apply for both our traditional internship and our extended structured internship. You are only eligible to apply for one program at a time
- Must be an individual who experiences barriers on the pathway to becoming a child life specialist and would benefit from an extended structured internship. Please indicate this clearly in your essay.
- Cook Children's does not require the child life practicum for extended internship applicants
- Must be at least a college senior, graduate student, or college graduate
- Must have experience working with children and families in both healthcare and outside of healthcare-related settings
- Validation of coursework
- Completed Association of Child Life Professionals Eligibility Assessment indicating “passed” in all coursework OR we accept in-progress courses ONLY for the current semester you are in with the completion of the ACLP Eligibility Assessment before the start of the internship
- Unofficial transcripts are accepted
- Additional requirements specific to our extended structured internship program are outlined in the Extended Internship Application Packet
Application information
The online application portal will open Thursday, June 5, 2025 at noon central standard time to receive application submissions for the 2026 extended internship.
- Consideration for the extended internship requires the student to submit a complete application, and essay and meet our program's minimum requirements and criteria
- Submitting a complete application, and essay and meeting our minimum requirements and criteria does not guarantee a candidate an interview or internship placement
- Paper applications are not considered
- Applications will only be accepted from the portal and not via email
Application links and resources
- Clinical Extended Internship Application Packet
- Child Life Extended Internship Application Submission Portal
- Association of Child Life Professionals Common Internship Application
- Association of Child Life Professionals Eligibility Assessment
Extended internship application, offer and acceptance dates
Extended internship session | Deadline | Initial offer date | Acceptance date
|
---|---|---|---|
2026: January-June (3 days a week) |
July 17, 2025 11:59 p.m. central standard time |
August 26, 2025 12-4 p.m. central standard time |
August 27, 2025 12-4 p.m. central standard time |
Interview dates
All interviews are conducted via Zoom.
- 2026 Extended Internship - Monday, August 25, 2025
We appreciate your interest in our program. Please note that due to the high volume of applications and limited capacity, we may be unable to accommodate requests to reschedule interview dates. We encourage all applicants to consider their availability before applying and notify us as soon as possible of any requests to reschedule interview dates.
Questions?
Please email us at childlifestudents@cookchildrens.org