Child Life Internship

WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE SPRING 2025 INTERNSHIP PROGRAM.

Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida offers a child life internship for those seeking to become certified child life specialists. At this time, we accept both affiliated and unaffiliated/independent students to our program. 

All applicants affiliated with an academic program must have at least senior level status at the time of the internship and meet the educational criteria of the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP) Eligibility Assessment Report , AND have completed:

a. 100 hours of experience with well infants, children, youth and/or families

b. 100 hours of experience with infants, children, youth and/or families in stressful situations, health care settings and/or programs designed for children with special needs

Our highly-structured internship program is accredited by the ACLP and follows all of the learning modules set forth in the ACLP clinical internship curriculum. We offer internships in the winter/spring (Jan-May) and fall (Aug-Dec). Internships are full-time, 16-weeks, 640 hours and will likely include some evening and weekend hours. Golisano Children’s Hospital follows the new ACLP Internship Readiness Application, offer and acceptance deadlines each semester.

Child Life interns will have the opportunity to see the effects of hospitalization and illness on children of all developmental levels and diagnoses as well as the impact on families through this unique experiential learning. Interns will gain experience in providing for the emotional and developmental needs of hospitalized children as well as gain mastery in providing all aspects of child life services (i.e. assessment, procedural support and education, therapeutic play, documentation, advocacy, family support, etc.). The interns will build their clinical skills throughout the internship and become competent in the role of a child life specialist through direct interactions with patients and families in both inpatient and outpatient settings. The internship will facilitate the student’s growth as a professional by allowing them to be a member of the multidisciplinary team and participate in on-going learning opportunities.

Application Process

1) Complete the Internship Readiness Common Application Here. 

2) Email the downloaded application along with unofficial transcripts and the completed ACLP Eligibility Assessment report showing all coursework as "passed" to: childlifestudents@leehealth.org.

3) The email subject line should state the internship session (winter/spring, fall) and year.

The PDF downloaded as part of the ACLP Internship Readiness Common Application is the only component that will be reviewed. No additional documentation will be required or reviewed for a candidate’s initial submission (no letters of recommendation, cover letters, resumes, etc.).

Golisano Children’s Hospital only accepts the first 70 completed applications received each semester. Once 70 applications are received, it will be indicated on this webpage that applications are no longer being accepted. Keep in mind that this could happen well before the identified ACLP application deadline date. We will begin accepting applications for the Spring 2025 internship on August 1. 

Interview Process

All application materials will be reviewed by the Golisano Internship Committee. Qualified applicants will be selected to continue in the interview process based on their internship readiness according to the Association of Child Life Professionals' "Internship Readiness Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)" Document.

Select candidates will be invited to participate in an initial phone screening and/or video interview. Based on this initial screening, top candidates will be asked to participate in a final virtual interview with the child life team.

Contact Us

For questions or to receive more detailed information on our program, please contact Meredith Church, MS, CCLS at childlifestudents@leehealth.org.