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KALAMAZOO, Mich.—As part of the required internship hours for the child life track of Western �鶹��ýӦ�� University's family and consumer sciences master's degree program, Julia Bice took the opportunity to intern abroad—increasing not only her workplace skills but her cultural understanding as well.

Bice traveled to Cape Town, South Africa, during the summer II semester to complete an internship with the organization Connect-123. She and her colleagues provided therapeutic child-centered play and coping planning to pediatric patients and their families in three hospitals throughout the city over four weeks.

She was surprised by several things that were really different working in South Africa compared to �鶹��ýӦ��. The pediatric patients she worked with in Cape Town did not have their own rooms, so there was no privacy within which to receive care. They also lacked play resources, giving them few—if any—options for toys and activities to help pass their time. Bice found she had to be creative with the few resources available to her in order to come up with therapeutic child-centered play activities for her patients. Therapeutic child-centered play allows children to communicate through their knowledge of play, which can help them process and express emotions around their injuries and the treatment they are receiving.

A language barrier made connecting with her first patient difficult. “When I would bring out activities, the child didn't seem to fully understand what I was asking, and mom was also confused on my role in the hospital,” explained Bice. Over time, she learned how to work with patients without relying on verbal communication and even realized that some patients prefer not to talk so they can fully engage in their activity. She was eventually able to build rapport with that first patient and their family, and it felt incredibly rewarding to overcome those obstacles.

Outside of the internship experience, Connect-123 also provided many group activities on the weekends so they could explore the city and all the beautiful landmarks it has to offer.

Bice will be completing several more internships locally before she graduates in spring 2023 and wholeheartedly recommends Western's child life program to anyone who might be interested.

“WMU has definitely been such a great school and provides such a positive program to students considering child life. The amount of support I have felt throughout my journey at WMU has made me feel so proud and accepted to become a child life specialist. I definitely suggest future students deciding on a program to come to WMU because of the amount of support professors and other future child life specialists provide to students. As a community, we make everyone feel comfortable and like they belong!”

LEARN MORE ABOUT WMU'S CHILD LIFE TRACK

The Master of Arts in Family and Consumer Sciences: Child Life track prepares students to pursue a career in the child life profession. This 32 credit hour program involves course work aligned with recommendations of the Association of Child Life Professionals, the primary professional organization of child life specialists. The curriculum provides classroom and field experiences enabling students to build on skills and knowledge key to working as a child life professional. Qualifying WMU students can accumulate up to 12 credit hours toward the Master of Arts in Family and Consumer Sciences (child life, family science and services, or youth and community development tracks) through the Accelerated Graduate Degree Program while enrolled as undergraduates in the child and family development, family studies, youth and community development or family science and human development major.

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