Also called: Certified Child Life Specialist
Helps children in hospitals understand and cope with illness, surgery, and medical procedures through play.
Child life specialists use dolls and medical toys to show kids what will happen before surgery, distract them during shots, and support siblings and parents. They work in children's hospitals. It combines child development and healthcare.
Estimate; most work at children's hospitals.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 5 years after high school. Bachelor's in child life or child development, a 600-hour internship, and certification exam; many have a master's.
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Child Life, Child Development, Psychology.
Growing about average. Small, competitive field.
Low risk for 10 years. AI may help prepare kid-friendly explanations; sitting with a scared child before surgery requires human trust and play.
Classes: Psychology, Child development CTE class, Biology.
Official data: O*NET occupation 21-1099.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.