Child Life Internship

The child life internship program at Rush Children’s Hospital is accredited through the Association for Child Life Professionals and meets all requirements for certification readiness. Rush Children’s Hospital offers an internship three times a year. The internship experience is outlined below:

• Follow the child life curriculum outlined by the Association for Child Life Professionals (ACLP)
• Full-time (40 hours per week), unpaid positions
• 600 hours (spread over 15 weeks)

Requirements to Apply

We are only able to interview applicants who meet the general prerequisites and criteria below:

Education Requirements

• Please note: we DO accept unaffiliated candidates who meet all other ACLP/internship eligibility requirements
• Course work reviewed/accepted according to ACLP Eligibility Assessment and/or participation in an ACLP endorsed academic program

Experience Requirements

• Course work requirements according to ACLP standards
• Completion of a child life practicum (supervised by certified child life specialist)
  • Please note: You do not need to submit any verification form related to this experience. We should be able to garner this information from your Internship Readiness Application
  • We will accept virtual practicums, traditional practicums and practicums in progress.

Apply for a Child Life Internship

To apply for the child life internship at Rush Children’s Hospital, we require the following to be emailed to childlife_students@rush.edu:

• Completed Internship Readiness Common Application as found on the ACLP website (includes common application, unofficial transcripts and eligibility assessment).
• Two references. In the body of you email, please provide the following information:
  • Name of reference, relationship, phone number and email address.
  • One reference must be from a child life specialist.
  • One reference must be someone who can speak to your work with children.
  • Please note that references will only be contacted in the final phase of our internship process.

To apply to our internship program, please email all documents listed above to childlife_students@rush.edu. The subject line of your email should read as follows: "Last name, First name, type of experiences, cycle you are applying for" (e.g., "Doe, Jan, Intern, Fall 2026").

Please do not submit applications or other materials by mail.

For inquiries or clarifications regarding student programs, please contact the internship and practicum committee:

(312) 947-0373
childlife_students@rush.edu

Application Deadlines