Expanding Inter-Professional Collaboration: A Child Life Elective for 4th Year Medical Students

You must log in to register
- Non-member - $60
- Member - $35
- Student - $15
Continue

A child life focused elective was created to increase inter-professional collaboration and enhance knowledge of child development for medical students. This elective encourages a more global awareness of how to treat the whole child, while also optimizing the utilization of resources within the healthcare setting. This webinar will provide insight into how one institution identified a need, and the steps taken to implement a successful 2-week immersive elective for 4th year medical students. Participants will learn about curriculum development, implementation, evaluation, and continued sustainment. Throughout this discussion, insight into the value this elective brings to all involved will be shared. Join us and leave feeling empowered to partner with your colleagues to create your own program.

Suggested Domain: Professional Responsibility

1.0 PDU

Learning Objectives:

1. Discuss the design and completion of a needs assessment aimed at guiding development of a Child Life Elective.

2. Identify key collaborators for successful development of a Child Life Elective.

3. Describe steps used for curriculum development.

4. Explain methods to evaluate success and maintain active enrollment in an elective of this nature.

Lisa Wolff

MS, CCLS

Lisa Wolff has been a child life specialist at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital for five years. She received her master's degree in Child Life and Family-Centered Care from Wheelock College in Boston, MA. Lisa partnered with Amy Carter and Chris Mattson in 2019 to create a child life-focused elective for medical students and recently collaborated on a community engagement elective for residents. Lisa's primary clinical focus is the support of hematology and oncology patients and their families. She also has a passion for educating healthcare team members on the role of child life to increase interdisciplinary collaboration and improve the care of patients and families.

Amy Carter

MS, CCLS

Amy Carter is a lead child life specialist at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital. She joined the team 24 years ago after receiving her master’s degree in Child life and Family Centered Care from Wheelock College in Boston MA. Over the course of her career, Amy has worked as a child life specialist providing psychosocial support to enhance patient and family coping in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She currently holds a lead position where, in addition to supporting clinical needs on the team, she coordinates student programming, assistants, and donations.

Christopher Mattson

MD, MHPE

Christopher Mattson is a second-year fellow in the pediatric critical care medicine fellowship program at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. He received his MD from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and completed his residency training in pediatrics at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital. He is also a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago Master in Health Professions Education program. His research interests include learner assessment, interprofessional education and collaboration and training systems.