Tennessee Technological University to offer new Master of Science in Child Life program

Tennessee Technological University is set to become the first public university in the state of Tennessee to offer a Master of Science in Child Life program following its recent approval by Tennessee Tech’s Board of Trustees. The new program will help meet demand for trained specialists who can help children and families with emotional support, development, and therapeutic practices during hospital stays.

According to an article on Tennessee Tech’s website, Katy Hoskins, who graduated from the university in 2015 with a bachelor degree in Child Life, explained the need for individuals to enter into the profession. She was quoted as saying, “Now more than ever, we need well-educated and informed, developmentally focused providers of healthcare. Child life specialists have the opportunity to be that person for families – and to champion that perspective to others on the care team. An education with an even greater emphasis on research is something that I would personally benefit from – and that’s another reason I would absolutely consider and recommend the child life master’s at Tech.”

Hoskins is a certified specialist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Her education began elsewhere, but in her junior year of college, she transferred to Tennessee Tech and entered into the School of Human Ecology’s undergraduate child life concentration, which is still the only bachelor degree of its kind in the state.

Hoskins said, “My story is unique. I was attending a liberal arts college in East Tennessee, and I knew I wanted to work in child life. There wasn’t a whole lot of structured support there for that career path, so when I found out that Tech had started a child life program, I left my friends and activities behind – I just knew that’s what I wanted to do. The coursework focused exactly on the knowledge you would want a child life specialist to have. Tech offered electives like death and dying and other nursing courses with content important to a child life career. The program kept evolving to meet those needs, and the faculty and staff were top-notch.”

The university began developing the new master’s degree program following feedback from healthcare providers in the region, including Vanderbilt’s Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. These care providers are seeing the need for trained specialists who are ready and able to work in complex pediatric care cases. Child life specialists provide a necessary link between families and care providers, offering emotional support, therapeutic play, and coping strategies for the children and their families.

For more information about Tennessee Tech, visit the school’s website.