Child Life Internship Readiness: Perspectives of Child Life Training Coordinators and Supervisors

Abstract

Certified Child Life Specialists serve an important role in the pediatric healthcare system providing psychosocial care for children and their families. While the child life profession continues to grow, the student-to-professional pipeline has not been researched. This mixed-methods study focuses on internship readiness from the clinical internship coordinators’ and supervisors’ perspectives to understand the child life intern selection process. Results indicate there are criteria that qualify and disqualify child life interns related to the internship candidates’ knowledge, skills, and abilities. Implications for this research include areas to improve access and decrease potential bias in the internship selection process as well as future research related to child life training.