Child-Family Life Services Internship

The Child-Family Life internship at University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital is a 15 week/600 hour experience. No more than one student is accepted at any one time, allowing for a more individualized experience. The first week includes an orientation to the health system, Child-Family Life, and the children we serve. The intern will work directly with children and under the close supervision of Child-Family Life staff in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

Interns will be encouraged to work closely with individual children and their families under the guidance of the Child-Family Life staff, and other health care team members as a fully participating team member. Interns will gain the skills to assess individual patient and family needs, plan and provide interventions, evaluate and document.

Two internship opportunities are offered each year; one in the fall (September-December) and one in the Spring (March-June). The internship is full time, Monday through Friday, 40 hours a week. Although the internship is not paid there is a meal stipend and free parking offered.

Inpatient rotation
Two rotations totaling 9 weeks, will consist of working with children of all ages with a variety of healthcare concerns. Most of the children have chronic diseases or are seriously ill. On specific occasions interns will follow patients to other units that serve children with organ transplants, blood and marrow transplants, and intensive care needs.

Outpatient rotation
A 5 week rotation in the outpatient setting will include working with children in a  variety of specialty clinics serving specific diagnostic categories, phlebotomy lab, radiology, and the pediatric surgery area, where interns will have experiences with patients in pre-induction and the recovery suite.

Application and Deadlines
We follow the deadlines for applications from the Child Life Council.

Fall Internship Session 
Application Deadline - May 5
Offer Deadline - June 22 
Acceptance Deadline - June 28

Winter/Spring Internship Session
Application Deadline - September 5 
Offer Deadline - October 22  
Acceptance Deadline - October 28

Recommended coursework and training for child life career planning