Child Life Internships
The Connect-123 Child Life program at Cape Town’s Red Cross Children’s Hospital (RCCH) is open to Child Life specialists and students alike. The vision of the internship program is to afford international students the opportunity to apply their developing skills, while providing the hospital with an invaluable specialized service not currently available to South African communities. Interns form an integral part of the hospital’s multidisciplinary Pain Management Team, housed in the anesthetics department.
Interventions have in the past been focused largely on the burn rehabilitation and oncology wards, but as the service has grown, interns have had opportunity to utilize their skills in units throughout the hospital, including involvement in school re-entries, community clinic outreaches and education programs. RCCH, is a renowned teaching hospital that provides a supportive and culturally diverse environment within which international interns can learn and grow.
Piloted in 2009, it is still a new and developing child life service. As such, it is important to note that we are not currently in a position to meet the supervision requirements specified by the Child Life Council for the 480 Child Life internship. However we have had interns who have obtained university credit by participating in the program and it is definitely a worthwhile experience to have before or after your formal internship.
“I was able to gain first-hand experience in an area that I want to continue to work in. It was a great opportunity to see child life in Cape Town and to help make a difference with the patients there. Working as a child life intern with the children made going to work everyday fun and enjoyable... Deciding to spend my summer in Cape Town with Connect-123 as a child life intern was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
(Amanda Kaspar, Auburn University)
To learn more about our program, please see the testimonials of some of our child life program participants.
Click here to see some of the views of how child life services have impacted on the Red Cross Children’s Hospital.
Based on your interest in Child Life, you might also like these Cape Town opportunities:
Child Life Volunteer Programs
Medical and Health Care Internships
Medical and Public Health Volunteer Programs
