How many of you have heard of Child Life?

[Karina]

Ok...So I am a Child Life Assistant at a Children's Hospital. That is the best part time job anyone could ever ask for.
But I find that almost nobody knows what Child Life is and what Child Life Specialists do. Is only after I explain it to them that they say that this job would look great on my application (that's pretty much the only thing people can say about it)

I was just wondering, since all of us want to be doctors, and Child Life Specialists/Assistants are such an important resources, how many of us have actually heard of it?

Just wondering...
Karina

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Joe Joe on da Radio]

i was a child life/development volunteer for 2 years! =)

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Karina,

I've heard of Child Life Specialists. They play a big role at Hopkins. I'm not sure if there's a program at Iowa, but there are volunteers who work with ill children here too.

If people who read your application are not familiar with this program, you'll have your opportunity to explain in your personal statement. This sounds like a big part of your life, and I strongly advise you to include it in your personal statment.

 

[chopsuey]

I have...i was a child life volunteer for a few summers at the children's hospital of philadelphia....and i think i posted a few months ago and what a great job it is. i was always jealous of the child life specialists!

 

[SMW]

OK, I'm out of the loop, I admit it. What do Child Life volunteers, assistants and specialists do?

 

[SM-UCLA tech]

No, I can't say I've ever heard of that. And I have been a Surgical Technologist for over 8 years. But it doesn't matter if we've heard of it or not. What is important is that you have shown commitment to the healthcare profession, and you have had meaningful clinical experience. Even if an adcomm hasn't heard of it, they should understand what it is and what your level of acheivement is in your explanation in your application.
Afterall, how many of you out there know what a Surgical Technologist is?.....I am sure most adcomm's will know, but I still had to describe my duties....

So......don't worry about it...I'm sure it will work out fine.



P.S. a surgical tech is like margaret houlihan on M*A*S*H

 

[Andrew_Doan]

I know what a surg tech does, and your adcoms will too.

 

[Bikini Princess]

i think most people at a med school/hospital will know about the Child Life office, unless they've worked at VA's their entire career. It wouldn't hurt to explain what you did though, since it's not self-explainatory..there are a number of jobs a volunteer or worker does in Child Life.

 

[xaelia]

Well, I'm no AdCom, but I know what Child Life is...because I volunteer in it at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

A few hours a week of playing with cute kids and meeting cute nurses who are amazed that a guy would be sensitive and caring enough to come play with kids....awwww yeah.

 

[Joe Joe on da Radio]

Originally posted by SMW
OK, I'm out of the loop, I admit it. What do Child Life volunteers, assistants and specialists do?

therapeutic play and social development for kids to combat the inherent stress involved in chronic sickness and hospitalization, in professional terms. =)

 

[UCLAstudent]

I've heard of Child Life. I know that my school has a program for it.

 

[lady bug]

Child Life rocks! I work with an artist-in-residence program at the local hospitals where I get to bring various types of artwork to bedside of patients (especially in pediatrics) to help them transcend the pain and boredom of their illnesses. What I like best about it is the direct patient interaction I get and often some interesting conversions spark up as a result. Its much better than when I used to work as a phlebotomist at the hospital. With activities involving child life and such, patients open up a lot more, becoz you're not just another medical person here to do a test on them or check on their IV. anyway, I just love it. Yesterday I worked with a little girl with leukemia who showed me how to make a heart out of paper (like origami). it was sweet.

 

[kidsmd]

I'm volunteering in the Child Life Department at my school right now; in fact, I just went today. And I love it; man, what else could be better than playing with kids for a couple of hours especially when they see you and their face just lights up?!?

 

[pcl]

I used to volunteer for child life, they were GREAT! and I still remember a lot of my patients. I learned so much from them about how to interact with patients and families, and NURSES...