Child Life Practicum
We are excited to communicate with you about Cook Children's child life practicum. This program provides child life students an opportunity to become more familiar with the field of child life and the needs of hospitalized children, youth, and families. The following is information about this program.
The online application portal for SPRING 2025 practicum will open Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024 at 12 p.m. central standard time. The portal will close for SPRING 2025 practicum applications on our deadline of Friday, Sept. 6, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. central standard time.
Applicant requirements
- Junior level in college or beyond
- Must have a minimum of 100 hours of paid and/or volunteer experience interacting with children, beyond required experiences for coursework. You must have one experience in the health care setting and one experience outside of the health care setting.
- Experience in a hospital or established child life program is preferred
- Applicants must show the following courses with a final passing grade or as "in progress" on the unofficial academic transcript:
- (1) child development course
- (1) play course
- (1) child life course
- Please view this document and visit the ACLP webpage for more detailed information about required courses
Application information
The online application and reference request portals will open at 12 p.m. central standard time on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024 to accept applications for the SPRING 2025 practicum.
- We use the Southern Association of Child Life Professionals (SACLP) Common Child Life Practicum Application
- Consideration for child life practicum requires the student to submit a complete application and meet our program's minimum requirements
- Submitting a complete application does not guarantee a student an interview or placement
- Late applications are not considered
- Paper applications are not considered
Child Life Practicum Application Packet
Child Life Practicum Application Submission Portal
Program information and requirements
- We choose to follow the Association of Child Life Professionals Pre-Internship module standards for the child life practicum
- We offer child life practicum three times a year: spring, summer, and fall semesters
- Students will participate in a 5 week program gaining approximately 150-170 hours of experience
- Students will complete (2) two week rotations as well as 1 hospital wide observation week
- Students will complete the Cook Children’s child life practicum curriculum
- Required immunizations
- Full Hepatitus B Series
- MMR
- TDaP
- Varicella vaccination or titer
- Influenza Immunization
- Negative Tuberculin (TB) Test
Practicum application deadlines
CL Practicum session | Application & reference deadline | Initial offer date | Student must accept position by |
---|---|---|---|
Summer 2024 | Jan. 5, 2024 |
Feb. 13, 2024 central standard time |
Feb. 14, 2024 central standard time |
Fall 2024 | March 15, 2024 |
May 7, 2024 12 p.m.-4 p.m. central standard time |
May 8, 2024 12 p.m.-4 p.m. central standard time |
Spring 2025 | Sept. 6, 2024 |
Oct. 8, 2024 12 p.m.-4 p.m. central standard time |
Oct. 9, 2024 12 p.m.-4 p.m. central standard time |
Interview dates
- SUMMER 2024: Monday, Feb. 5, 2024
- FALL 2024: Monday, April 29, 2024
- SPRING 2025: Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024
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.
Additional information
- Current Cook Children's volunteers are required to take a brief leave of absence from their volunteer position if selected for the Cook Children's child life practicum
Questions?
Please email ChildLifeStudents@cookchildrens.org.
Visit our frequently asked questions page to find answers to common questions.