Child Life Specialist Concentration
Become a child life specialist and work in inpatient, outpatient and community health care settings with children of all ages. Through the use of play and other forms of communication, the child life specialist functions as a member of the health care team to help reduce the stress of hospitalization, illness, and health care procedures. This concentration prepares you for the child life certification exam, which enables you to practice in every state as well as internationally. Students may formally apply to the child life concentration after enrolling at Wheelock and upon successful completion of Human Growth and Development, Introduction to Child Health Systems and Introduction to Child Life.
Exciting Curriculum
Students in the Child Life concentration at Wheelock College study child life theory and methods of developmental and therapeutic play, procedural support, as well as preparation and coping strategies. Hands on experience begins in the student's first semester with their human growth and development class and field placement assignment, and ends in their senior year with a semester of child life internship in a hospital setting and a semester of child life internship in an alternative setting.
Students who concentrate in Child Life also choose an arts and sciences major in the Arts, American Studies, Human Development, the Humanities, or Math and Science.
Major Courses
- Introduction to Child Health Systems
- Introduction to Child Life
- The Role of the Child Life Specialist
- Meaning and Development Of Play
- Child Life Methods and Materials
- Child Life Practicum/Internship
- Child Life Issues and Processes Seminar
- Integrative Seminar in Child Life
- Alternative Applications of Child Life
Professional Advantages
Students complete a 75-hour pre-practicum core, and a 400-hour practicum/ internship under the supervision and mentorship of a certified child life special-ist in a hospital setting, followed by a 150-hour practicum in an alternative setting. This level of practicum sets the standard for the profession. Each student achieves more than 550 certified child life internship hours, which exceeds the 480 hour minimum set by the Child Life Council.
Certification
Wheelock College is nationally and internationally known for this program and is recognized by the Child Life Council for the quality of its programs and the leadership it provides for the profession.
Why Wheelock
Wheelock's program is the first academic program in the country with a Child Life concentration (established 1972). Students pursue a 400-hour internship in Boston's world-renowned hospitals and related settings or within the 50 United States. Also, the Wheelock Child Life Specialist concentration is the first aca-demic program to offer an international summer course, The Hospitalized Child, in England (summer course).
Contact Information:
For any questions or further information concerning this or any Wheelock College major or concentration, please contact:
Wheelock College
Undergraduate Admissions
200 The Riverway
Boston, MA 02215
(617) 879-2206
1-800-734-5212
undergrad@wheelock.edu
www.wheelock.edu
