Child Life Practicum Program

You can gain valuable experience through our child life practicum

Thank you for your interest in the practicum program with the child life department at Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital. The practicum provides college and university students with an introductory experience for individuals pursuing careers as child life professionals.

Through experiential learning and observations of certified child life specialists, practicum students begin to increase their knowledge of basic skills related to play, developmental assessment, and integration of child life theory into interventions with children of all ages and their families.

Through these experiences, child life practicum students can enhance their knowledge of the child life profession and investigate the process of applying child life and developmental theory into practice.

The practicum is structured so that the student will complete 16 hours per week for eight weeks during the summer semester, from May until August. These hours may include evenings and weekends.

Students who complete a practicum at Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital will be ineligible to apply for a child life internship at our facility.

Eligibility requirements

• You must be a college or university student enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program related to child life, child development, human development, family studies or psychology.
• You must have completed at least five college-level courses that meet the Association of Child Life Professionals’ (ACLP) requirements.
• You must have a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 and a major GPA of at least 3.5.
• You must have completed at least 50 volunteer and/or work hours in a pediatric hospital or a related facility. Related facilities include medical camps, rehabilitation centers, hospices and educational settings for children with complex medical needs.

Application process