Child Life Internship
Growing our Child Life team
Thank you for your interest in our Child Life Internship at Palmetto Health Children's Hospital. We offer an intensive 16-week internship in the spring and fall each year; we do not accept summer interns.
If you have questions regarding your eligibility for a Child Life internship, please visit www.childlife.org. We pride ourselves on our growing Child Life team and offer a range of backgrounds to accommodate and grow each individual student.
The next Child Life Internship opportunity at Palmetto Health Children's Hospital will be winter/spring 2019.
Areas of opportunities include:
- Infant and Toddler Inpatient Unit
- School Age and Adolescent Inpatient Unit
- Cancer and Blood Disorders Inpatient Unit
- Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
- Pediatric Sedation Unit and Day Hospital
- Outpatient Pediatric Surgery
- Children’s Emergency Center
- Assessment and Resource Center
- Family Services Center
Internship education and clinical experience prerequisites
- Minimum overall 3.0 GPA; major GPA 3.0
- College senior in an undergraduate program or graduate student majoring in child life or related field; OR hold a bachelor’s or master’s degree in child life or a related field
- We accept both university-affiliated and independent students
- 100+ hours of experience in hospital setting with child life supervision required (i.e., volunteer, practicum, child life assistant)
- 100+ hours of experience with well children
- Experience in a pediatric hospital setting
- Completion of a child life practicum is strongly encouraged
- Applicants must be working toward completing the certification requirements to sit for the Child Life Certification Exam
Our internship program follows the Association of Child Life Professionals’ (ACLP) application deadlines which are posted below.
Application packets must be postmarked by the ACLP application deadline. Late applications will not be considered. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.
2019 winter/spring internship
Application deadline: September 5, 2018
Initial offer dates: Second Tuesday of October
Acceptance dates: Following Thursday
Application must include:
- ACLP common application
- Cover letter
- Resume
- Transcript—unofficial is acceptable
- Two letters of recommendation on business letterhead, signed and sealed
- One must be from someone who has observed your work with hospitalized children
- ACLP eligibility assessment
- $25 processing fee (make check payable to PHCH Child Life Department)
Mail applications to:
Palmetto Health Children's Hospital
Child Life Department
Christy Fink
7 Medical Park Dr.
Suite 7129
Columbia, SC 29203
Interview process
Applicants will receive an email confirming receipt of their application. Once the application has been received and reviewed, selected applicants will be contacted to schedule a phone interview. After phone interviews, selected applicants will be contacted to schedule an on-site interview. Applicants not selected for an on-site interview will receive a written or electronic message. After on-site interviews have been completed, offers and declines will be made via telephone or electronic message in accordance to the ACLP offer and acceptance dates.
Contact information
Christy Fink
Christine.Fink@PalmettoHealth.org