Education. Advocacy. Play. Empowerment. On the surface, these four ideas don’t have much in common, but at their intersection lies the field of child life. For students who are passionate about working with children and are seeking a profession where they can advocate for families during times of need, child life offers a rewarding career opportunity. As one of only three universities in California with a Master’s in Child Life program and one of only 13 institutions nationwide endorsed by the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP), Azusa Pacific University offers a transformative education for students to become Certified Child Life Specialists (CCLS).
What is Child Life?
So what do child life specialists do? “We’re like teachers and therapists in the hospital,” said Elena Le, MS, CCLS, assistant professor. “Our job is to reduce trauma, anxiety, and explain hospitalization for children and their families. That entails procedural support, patient advocacy, and diagnosis education in developmentally appropriate ways so that kids can develop short and long term coping skills for minimal trauma in the hospital.” When children arrive at the hospital for serious medical conditions or treatments, child life specialists meet them, get to know them and their families, and immediately begin figuring out how they can best support them. At first, the hospital can be an intimidating place for kids, and procedures and medical terminology can be confusing. “For a five-year-old, leukemia is a really big word, but we explain that it really just means their blood is sick. Or if they’re getting an IV, we say it’s like a little straw that’s going into their body,” said Carissa Howard, MS, CCLS, assistant professor. “We’re empowering kids to learn about hard things and walking alongside them to make the hospital feel like a place that they can navigate, whether they’re just getting stitches or going into surgery.”
Between procedures, child life specialists get to focus on something more fun with their patients: play. Most children’s hospitals are equipped with play rooms with toys and games to help children relax. “Kids express themselves through play, so our job is to create opportunities for fun even when they’re in the hospital,” Howard said. Students in APU’s child life program take a therapeutic interventions and play based techniques class which teaches them how to help kids of all ages. Alumna Taiz (Pineda ’20, MS ’22) Pomparelli, has used these techniques in her job as a child life specialist at Children's Hospital Orange County (CHOC). She recalled working with a young boy who was reserved at first, but after conversing with him in Spanish, his native language, he began telling Pomparelli how nervous he was about his upcoming treatments. “I grabbed some legos and play dough and started playing with him. He opened up and just became a kid again,” she said. “It was so meaningful to see how he forgot we were in the hospital setting for a while. Every time he came in for treatment after that, he had the biggest smile.”
While child life specialists are there to support the patients themselves first, they have an equally important task of serving the patients’ families. “Sometimes parents need just as much as the kids do,” Howard said. Child life specialists will spend time with the kids to give parents time to grab a quick nap or a bite to eat. They also talk with the patient’s siblings and explain what’s going on. “We take away their questions because kids are magical thinkers and will make up what they think happened,” Howard said. “Our students take a family dynamics class which is really practical, something that they can apply from their first day as a child life specialist.”
Learn From Experienced and Caring Faculty
For students interested in child life, it’s important to learn from faculty who are experienced in the field. Unlike other programs, all APU child life faculty are certified specialists who have many years of experience helping children and families. “Learning from faculty who are currently practicing in the field gives our students a richer education,” said Charity James, PhD, CCLS. “We’ve served in a variety of settings from children’s hospitals to clinics and camps and students benefit from our diverse experiences.” APU faculty share real life scenarios they’ve seen for students to get an idea of what it’s like to work with children and families. In their classes, students role play with each other to practice how they would respond to patients in need. “That helped me navigate through difficult experiences,” said Alyssa Ponce ’21, MS ’22, who now serves as a child life specialist at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. “We learned incredibly helpful real skills that I have used since day one at Stanford.”
The impact of APU’s faculty extends beyond the coursework. Faculty take time to get to know their students, whether that’s during office hours to help students who are struggling in classes or just to talk about what’s going on in their lives over a cup of coffee. “I absolutely loved my professors. They were so understanding and genuinely cared about me as a person,” Pomparelli said. “Having small classes allowed them to get to know us and hearing their stories inspired me for who I want to become as a child life specialist.” Faculty’s impact continues after students graduate as they enter the field. For Ponce, she continues to connect with her former professors for guidance as she plans to pursue her PhD.
Accelerated 18-month Program and Undergraduate Opportunities
Unlike many graduate programs, a master’s in child life at APU can take as little as one year to complete, saving students time and money while accelerating their career. For most students, they will enter in the fall or spring semester, taking three semesters worth of classes, before finishing their final semester doing their internship. However, students who complete their undergraduate studies at APU have the option to take up to three courses which count toward their master’s in child life degree while they’re still in undergrad. Ponce followed this course, taking three child life classes while completing her bachelor’s in psychology. “I fell in love in those three classes and took a leap of faith,” she said. “It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
Practicum Placement and Internship Support
As part of their coursework, students complete a 120-hour practicum. APU’s strong partnerships with local hospitals enables students to get their feet wet by shadowing experienced child life specialists. “Practicum allows students to see what the job looks like in the real world to prepare them for working in a hospital when they get to internship,” Howard said. Hannah Frey ’25 completed her practicum at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, one of the top hospitals in the country, alongside her cohort mate Sarah. Frey appreciated having a friend to partner and debrief with during her practicum. “We had so many incredible opportunities because of our preceptors and the welcoming environment at Cedars,” she said. “From sitting in on bioethics meetings and seeing how much thought and intentionality goes into medical decisions to shadowing during oncology procedures, it was enlightening to see how child life can support the multidisciplinary team throughout the process.” Frey appreciated how her preceptor modeled what to do before giving her the independence to do it herself, filling her with confidence she’ll need in her internship and beyond. Frey’s classmate, Katie Ottman ’25, did her practicum at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, working in a domestic violence shelter, as well as the general pediatric unit and orthopedic clinic. “I loved it,” she said. “It was a really well rounded experience with kids in different environments and I fell in love with child life in a community setting.”
After completing a practicum and the program’s coursework, students apply for internships. Similarly to medical doctors applying for and matching with hospitals for residencies, the internship process is very competitive, with hundreds of applicants applying for positions at hospitals across the country. Le tells her students to apply for 20-30 internships, equipping them with tips for their interviews so they can set themselves apart from other candidates. “I give them constructive feedback so they can feel confident going into their interviews,” she said. This feedback proved pivotal for Pomparelli and Ponce, who landed internships at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), respectively.
I showed off my strengths and that led to me getting an amazing internship. I’m really grateful for that because I got to work under an experienced child life specialist’s wings, which really set me up for success to go to a bigger children’s hospital and serve alongside a whole child life team.Taiz (Pineda ’20, MS ’22) Pomparelli
Ponce was APU’s first child life student to land an internship at CHLA, where she learned how to best serve patients and their families. “I feel like it prepared me for anything,” she said. “I could literally walk into any room as a child life specialist and know where my place would be. It empowered me a lot and helped me grow as a human because their program was phenomenal.”
Online and In Person Cohorts and Alumni Network
APU is the only institution nationwide to offer both in person and online master’s degrees in child life. Each fall, a cohort of 15-20 students begins in person, followed by a similarly sized online cohort each spring. “We found students from all across the country who were really interested in our program, but not everybody can pick up and move their life,” James said. “Having an online option allows all students to benefit from our excellent program.” For students who are part of the in person cohort, all classes meet at night to offer flexibility for students working professionally.
Whether students choose the in person or online options, the cohort model creates community as they progress through the program. From forming group text chains to check in on each other to in depth study sessions, students' shared passion for the field leads to forming lasting connections with each other. “Before the program even started, we had a group chat going and it’s been nonstop communication since then,” Ottman said. “Everyone really builds each other up and strengthens one another.” This camaraderie of students going through the same courses and experiences is helpful. “What we talk about is heavy,” Frey said. “Our cohort is really intentional about being open, trusting, and supporting each other.” This support proves helpful as students apply to the same internships and alumni to the same jobs after graduation. “We’re not competing with each other. We want each other to succeed,” Ponce said. “One of my favorite things has been working alongside my cohort mates and faculty. It’s a small field, and having those valuable connections and people to lean on is truly meaningful.”
To help current students advance in their skills, the faculty have set up a mentorship program with many alumni like Pomparelli participating. Alumni share their experiences and mentor students as they prepare to enter the field. “That mentorship is an awesome way to connect with child life students as they complete their practicum and give them advice for internship applications,” she said. “The internship and job application process can be overwhelming, so I want to help them know all they need to know to succeed.” Alumni also play a key role in helping each other find jobs after graduation and thrive in the field.
Faith Integration in All Coursework
While APU doesn’t require students to have a Christian faith as an open enrollment institution, faith is intentionally integrated into all courses. Whether praying for students before exams or walking them through how to live out their faith in the day-to-day setting of a hospital environment, all faculty model a Christian perspective on their expertise as child life specialists. “I love getting to tie in my faith because it’s who I am and what I do,” Howard said. “I have the opportunity to teach my students how to treat each patient like they were made in the image of God and what it looks like to love like Jesus loved.” This kind of love is indispensable for child life specialists, as a major part of their job involves being there for families during end of life situations. Ponce has lived this out during her experience working with children and families at Stanford Children’s Health. “I’m here to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and also to honor each family,” Ponce said. “I show my faith through my actions and the way I care for others.”
This integration not only helps students grow in their faith, it also equips them to live out their calling. Child life is not a profession students go into for the sake of having a job; rather, it’s something they feel called to. “The Bible talks about our role to speak for people who can’t speak for themselves,” James said. “We’re instilling in our students that this is their calling and they’re going to fulfill their purpose and mission.” Students who graduate from APU’s child life program are not only educated to succeed in the field, but transformed to show love in how they care for others. “When we sit with God in prayer, He’s there for us and listens,” Frey said. “That’s what this program has shown me, how to show that same love in listening to and advocating for my patients.”