Master of Arts in
Child Life

About

The advanced-track Master of Arts in Child Life degree will give you the necessary education to be a competent certified child life specialist (CCLS). Available online and in person, this program is designed for candidates who are already certified or who have met ACLP requirement coursework requirements.

Admission Requirements Curriculum Practicum

Why Earn a Master's Degree at EWU?

The advanced-track Master of Arts in Child Life Program at Eastern offers you:


More Opportunities

You'll be more competitive for clinical practicum, internship, and in the job market.

Skill Development

You'll gain research skills unique to the child life field and supervisory and managerial skills for administrative-level positions.

Flexible Courses

You can earn your degree in person at the Cheney campus or online.

Admission Requirements

The application will be open Jan - March.

Criteria

To apply for this program you must have one of the following:

If you meet one of the criteria above, get started on your application. If you don’t meet any of the above criteria, please fill out an EWU post-baccalaureate application instead.

Apply Now

Application Components

As part of the application process, you’ll be asked to:

  1. Request official transcripts from every institution where you received college credit be sent electronically to GradCAS.
  2. Upload a current resumé.
  3. Provide the contact information for one certified child life specialist and one academic reference who can provide a letter of recommendation on your behalf.
  4. Upload an essay (300-500 words) in response to the following prompt: “What is your child life philosophy? Provide an example of how your child life philosophy has influenced an interaction that you have had with a child in the hospital setting.”

Child Life Community Virtual Practicum

Eastern Washington University, in collaboration with Child Life Connection, offers a child life community practicum opportunity for a total of 140+ hours of experience.:

  • Offered twice each year (typically summer and fall quarters)
  • Practicum students commit to 12-15 hours per week (for the 120+ hours of practicum content)
  • Plus a 20+ hour in-person shadowing experience of a CCLS (schedule to be coordinated between student and hospital)

 

Our ideal applicant is a graduate student with 10 ACLP required courses in progress or complete. Your CCLS taught Theory & Practice course and at least one course focused on development must be completed prior to starting the Child Life Community Practicum.

EWU Child Life graduate students get priority placement, with any remaining offers being extended to graduate students from other graduate programs. Participating students must be eligible to complete required COVID vaccines to have access to the 20+ hours of shadowing.

To apply for the Child Life Community Practicum, please send a cover letter and resume to Belinda Hammond, EdD, CCLS, CIMI to bhammond4@ewu.edu.

Acceptance of the offer requires enrollment in our Child Life Community Practicum (virtual).  If you are a graduate student elsewhere, you can speak with your advisor about transferring this course back to your home university as an elective/practicum.

The first of its kind, Eastern has been offering a child life community practicum experience virtually since 2020. While traditional practicums provide in-person shadowing in 1-2 hospital units, this virtual experience focuses not only on those traditional hospital settings but also on community-based child life opportunities, introducing many of our students to new career opportunities within the field of child life! Our students are actively involved in virtual medical camps and in-hospital studio programming for more hands-on experiences with pediatric patients and the use of technology.

In-person shadowing experiences provide our practicum students with the closest child life team (for each student) for 20+ hours of shadowing. With specific experiences using technology for therapeutic interventions, and an introduction to a range of units/settings of child life practice, our past students have been able to provide unique examples of experiences and goals in the profession, which has set them apart from other internship candidates.

This experience meets the Association of Child Life Professionals recommended standards for a practicum experience – and includes each of the Internship Readiness Modules from the Association of Child Life Professionals Modules.

What You'll Learn

The following information comes from the official EWU catalog, which outlines all degree requirements and serves as the guide to earning a degree. Courses are designed to provide a well-rounded and versatile degree, covering a wide range of subject areas.

Child Life, Master of Arts (MA)

Required Core Courses25
FAMILY SYSTEMS IN HEALTHCARE
CHILD LIFE RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES
ADMINISTRATION IN CHILD LIFE PROGRAMS
CHILD LIFE GRANT WRITING
CHILD LIFE THESIS
CHILD LIFE RESEARCH PROJECT
Required Electives–All students are required to take four electives. Additional electives available with prior approval from Child Life Advisor.19-20
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION IN CHILDHOOD
TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE WITH CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
MINDFULNESS AND ALTERNATIVE PRACTICES FOR WORKING WITH CHILDREN
DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN
PEDIATRIC MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY
CHILD LIFE PRACTICE ASSESSMENT AND PREPARATION
SCHOOL REINTEGRATION AND SUPPORT
PEDIATRIC PALLIATIVE CARE
NON-TRADITIONAL CHILD LIFE
INTERNATIONAL CHILD LIFE
Required Clinical Experience–for students who need hospital affiliation for child life practicum or child life internship.0-6
CHILD LIFE PRACTICUM AND INTERNSHIP
Total Credits44-51

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the advanced track MA in Child Life, students will be able to:

  1. Apply theory to inform a given child life service.
  2. Apply evidence-based, developmentally appropriate practices to support children and families.
  3. Design a child life research study.