Child Life Practicum

The child life practicum program at Rush Children’s Hospital gives students interested in pursuing a career in child life an opportunity to gain more insight into the field. Rush Children’s Hospital offers a practicum three times a year beginning in January (spring semester), May/June (summer semester), or September (fall semester) each year. Selected practicum applicants will be allowed to choose between part-time (14 weeks long, option to come one or two days per week, 8 hours/day) or full-time (3 weeks, 5 days per week, 8 hours/day). During this time, you will have opportunities to do the following:

• Shadow child life specialists
• Participate in designing and implementing therapeutic activities
• Observe procedural preparation and support
• Interact with children and families (in the playroom and bedside)
• Engage in daily interactions with the multidisciplinary team

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
• Current enrollment in or completion of a bachelor’s or master’s degree program in child life or related field

Experience Requirements 

• Completion of 50+ hours of experience with children in health care settings/stressful situations
• Completion of 50+ hours of experience with well children

Apply for a Child Life Practicum

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

• Completion of practicum application linked here
• Supplemental materials
  • Resume
  • Official or unofficial transcripts (both undergraduate and graduate, if applicable)
• Two recommendation letters
  • Letters of recommendation should be from professionals who have observed your work with children or those who can speak to your knowledge and skill set (e.g., professors, colleagues, child life specialists). Please be sure the letters are signed by the recommender and uploaded as a PDF by the applicant.

Please send all required documents listed above to apply to our practicum program. These are the only requirements to apply for the practicum. Email all documents 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, Practicum, Fall 2026").

Please do not submit applications or other materials by mail.

Application Deadlines

All application materials should be uploaded by the following deadlines below:

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

(312) 947-0373
ChildLife_Students@rush.edu