Many colleges within Ohio University require students to complete an internship before receiving their diploma, and applying and getting an internship can be a stressful experience for students.
Child family studies is one program in which students are required to complete an internship. Jennifer Chabot, a certified child life specialist and professor, said the program is designed for students to apply for internships by March 1 of their junior year.
Students must have a 3.0 GPA or higher for the CFS degree. Students also must complete a minimum of 75 hours volunteering in a child life program at a hospital and complete a 400-hour internship at a human services agency.
Chabot said those requirements are embedded within the major's curriculum. Chabot and her colleagues work with hospitals to help support students through the process.
"I can't imagine (the course) any other way. Chabot said. "I just can't imagine for students who have to do it alone."
Liv Stark, a senior studying CFS, said she appreciates that the major required her to spend several hours completing a practicum and an internship.
"Having both options of practicum and internship, you can make it so you have two completely different experiences, and then figure out which one you like best without getting a job," Stark said.
For those in the clinical route of CFS, it can be especially competitive to intern at a hospital, Stark said. She said hospitals typically only accept one to two child life specialists in their program.
However, Stark said the curriculum encourages students to complete the internship before officially going into the field, which can be beneficial in the future. She said it is highly likely the place students intern with will want to hire them after they have become acclimated with their work.
Interim department chair for the department of social and public health, Michael Reece, said many programs within the College of Health Sciences and Professions require an internship, practicum or field-based experience.
Reece said such requirements demonstrate the importance of applying skills and knowledge in practice.
For undergraduate students majoring in communication sciences and disorders, completing an internship or externship for the degree is not mandatory. However, CSD graduate students must complete a set of required internships and externships, Fuh-Cherng Jeng, a professor of communication sciences and disorders, said.
Though it is completely optional for undergraduate students to partake in observing or shadowing experiences, Jeng explained many CSD undergraduate students are still interested in doing so. He said students willingly volunteer to shadow at a clinic, hospital or anywhere else that would provide them with more information regarding jobs in CSD.
Chao-Yang Lee, an associate professor of communication sciences and disorders, explained that there are currently no formal systems for helping these students get the opportunity for experiential learning, but he noted it could still be useful.
"I do agree that (an) internship is a wonderful idea," Lee wrote in an email.
Stark said due to her interpersonal relationships with her professors, she achieved the necessary requirements for her major and beneficial opportunities for her career.
"They're there for you through it all and they're very open and honest and … I just feel like they're very helpful," Stark said.
