Child and Family Studies - MS

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Degree Title and Name: Master of Science in Child and Family Studies

Program Name and Number: Child and Family Studies – MS6469

Department/Unit: Department of Social and Public Health

Delivery Mode: Athens Campus

Term(s) of Entry: Fall, Summer

Program Overview: The Child and Family Studies (CFS) graduate program offers an in-depth study of children, adults, and families along the life span. We offer two concentrations: 1) child life and 2) family gerontology.

The CFS program prepares individuals who are interested in studying and/or working with families in many settings, including human and social service agencies, and programs for youth, adolescents, and elders. The program focuses on family dynamics, how individuals within the family contribute to and are shaped by these dynamics, and how broad societal contexts influence individual and family functioning.

Concentrations:

Child Life: This concentration prepares students for a career as a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS), as designated by the Association of Child Life Professionals, the governing organization that oversees this profession. The CCLS helps normalize the hospitalization experience for children and families, and provides specific services that include preparations for medical procedures, coping skills for children during stressful health care experiences, support for siblings and parents, therapeutic medical play, planning and implementing activities to enhance growth and development, and interdisciplinary team involvement. In addition to core cores in the Child and Family Studies program, students in this concentration are required to take courses in child life foundations and theory, life span development, and child life clinical training in our simulation lab. Applicants are required to have volunteer experiences (75 hours minimum) in a child life department within a hospital, and documentation is required as part of the application packet.

The child life graduate program is a two-year program that includes a summer child life practicum and a final 600 hour child life internship.

Family Gerontology: This concentration focuses on aging within the context of families, more specifically the implications, support needs, and outcomes for adults and their family members as they age and the quality of their relationships across the life course. Child and Family Studies students who choose this concentration also will receive a graduate gerontology certificate to help them better prepare for careers advocating for and helping older adults and their family members. With this concentration, students typically seek employment working with mid- to later-life adults and their family members or pursue graduate work in such areas as marriage and family therapy, social work, human development and family studies, rehabilitation services, and public/community health.

Child life students have the option of adding an extra full year to their program and receive a master’s in public health (MPH M.S.).

Child life graduate students can add any of the following graduate certificates within the two-year program: Global Health Certificate, Healthcare Leadership Certificate, Health Policy Certificate.

Program Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

Demonstrate their theoretical and practical knowledge about current approaches to helping people in their chosen field within the profession.
Acquire increasingly complex intellectual skills by demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of the intricate cognitive, emotional and physiological interactions that govern human relationships.
Demonstrate the ability to work effectively with diverse populations.
Demonstrate an understanding of the research process, including the analysis, synthesis, and critical integration of data into a professional research format.

Link to Program: https://www.ohio.edu/chsp/social-public-health/child-family-studies/graduate

Graduation Requirements:

Minimum 3.0 GPA
Completion of a child life practicum and final child life internship (child life concentrationonly), as designated by the Association of Child Life Professionals for child life certification
Completion of a research project or thesis
Minimum semester hours: 33 hours

Core Major Requirements (All graduate students in Child & Family Studies take the following)

CFS 6740 -Advanced Family Development (3)
CFS 6940 - Research (1-5)
CFS 6700 - Qualitative Methods for Children, Adults, and Families (3)
EDRE 5010 - Introduction to Research Methods (3)
EDCE 6750 - Advanced Child Development (3)

Child Life Concentration Required Graduate Courses:

CFS 5760 - Children & Families in Healthcare Settings (3)
CFS 5770 - Professional Practices in Child Life (3)
CFS 5780 - Advanced Child Life (3 hour/week clinical placement)
CFS 5920 - Child Life Practicum (5) (100-250 hours)
CFS 5910 - Child Life Internship (9) (600 hours)
CFS 6280 - Foundations & Theory in Child Life (3)
CFS 5900 - CFS Workshop: Therapeutic and Medical Play in Child Life (3)

Courses for Child Life Graduate Concentration:

CFS 5602 - Professional Assessment and Helping Skills (3)
CFS 5800 - Death, Dying and Bereavement (3)
CFS 5600 - Children, Families, and Diversity (3)
CFS 5610 - Dynamics in Parent-Child Relations (3)
CFS 5630 - Transitions in Development: Middle Childhood (3)
CFS 5650 - Transitions in Development: Adolescence (3)
CFS 5670 - Children, Families, Stress & Trauma (3)

Family Gerontology Concentration Required Graduate Courses:

CFS 5601 - Human Sexualities (3)
CFS 5640 - Children, Families, and Poverty (3)
CFS 5660 - Transitions in Development: Middle and Later Life (3)
HLTH 6060 - Gerontechnology
HLTH 6300 - Epidemiology in Health Administration
CSD 6935 - Aging and Communication in Developing Worlds
CSD 5000 - Aging and Disorders of Communication (3)

Culminating Experience: Thesis or Non-Thesis Project

Intern/Externship, Clinical
Research Project (minimum 3 credits required in CFS 6940)

Admission Requirements:

Minimum 3.0 GPA in relevant/related undergraduate program
3 letters of recommendation, with at least one letter from an academic professor in applicant’s undergraduate discipline
Written personal statement (APA Style) that addresses applicant’s reasons for graduate
Additional requirements, child life concentration:
- 75 minimum hours of volunteer experience within a child life department in a hospital (documentation required)
- Medical terminology course
- Anatomy and Physiology course with a lab
- Written personal statement must describe the following:
  - Applicant’s introduction to the child life specialist profession
  - Applicant’s relevant background (for example, volunteer experience, undergraduate or professional work)
  - Applicant’s interest in the profession
All application materials must be uploaded to the Ohio University Graduate College application online site in order to have a complete application and be considered for admission.

International Students: This program permits full-time enrollment in residence at Ohio University, and an I-20 may be issued based on admission to this program.

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