INOVA Children's Hospital

Inova Children's Hospital is an award-winning 186-bed, full-service children’s hospital devoted to the healthcare of infants, children and adolescents in the Northern Virginia area. The hospital provides an opportunity for undergraduates or recent graduates to work in various departments throughout he hospital. They generally have the capacity to take two interns, one in the summer and one in fall. However, this is subject to change depending on the applicant pool and/or staffing changes. 

The intern has two rotations – one 6 weeks and one 7 weeks. During this time interns will attend in-services and complete numerous readings and other assignments such as weekly journals, staff interview, medical vocabulary, rotation goals, case study, diagnosis presentation, and a final project. The student starts each rotation in a shadowing role and independence increases each week. As independence develops, interns will begin to introduce services to patients and families, provide developmentally appropriate play and therapeutic activities, and provide procedural preparation and support. 

The population the intern works with will vary depending on the student’s two rotations. Usual rotation options are – General Pediatrics, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Intermediate Care Unit/General Peds, Outpatient Radiology, Outpatient Surgery, ED, Hem/Onc. This can always change depending on staffing changes.

Inova views the internship experience as a two way street; as they work to develop new child life specialist in their students, they also grow and develop as child life specialists and supervisors. They value feedback and communication between the staff and students. 

Location: 3300 Gallows Road, Falls Church, VA 22042

To Apply: Visit their website.