Patient Gaming & Technology Specialist Certificate

Child’s Play Charity provides a certificate to become a certificated Patient Gaming & Technology Specialist. This program consists of 4 units, one in person and 3 online. Currently the course is being operated twice a year, timing based around PAX West and PAX East.

The in person component of the course begins with an immersive full-day session hosted at a partner hospital. This training goes over child life concepts and goes in depth on navigating the hospital space using technology to help the hospitalized child. Following this training, there is an in person didactic on how to use adaptive technology to help patients. The rest of the in person training is centered around creating gaming industry connections and building collaboration with other gaming professionals in the cohort.

If you are interested in the 2025 class offerings:
Click here to receive information for the PAX East training (May 7th-9th in person)
Click here to receive information for the PAX West training (August 28th-30th in person)

The course subject covers the following:

Unit 1 (In Person)
1. Introduction into Child Life Concepts
2. Adaptive and Accessible Gaming
3. Self Care

Unit 2
1. Therapeutic Gaming
2. Documentation, Referrals, and Workflow
3. ESRB, Appropriateness, and Safe Gaming

Unit 3
1. Policies, Guidelines, and Staff Education
2. Emergent Problem Solving and Research
3. Supplemental Tech Integration

Unit 4
1. Project and Team Management
2. Group Gaming and Reflective Practice
3. Navigating Hospital Politics and Bureaucracy

Hospitals who have a certificated Patient Gaming & Technology Specialist

Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital	Boston Children’s Hospital	Children’s Health Dallas
Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles	Christus Health	C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital
Dell Children’s Hospital	Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital	Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital
Johns Hopkins Children’s Center	Kentucky Children’s Hospital	Logan Health
Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital	Masonic Children’s Hospital	Methodist Children’s Hospital
Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt	MUSC Children’s Health	OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital
Primary Children’s Hospital	Seattle Children’s Hospital	Texas Children’s Hospital
Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital

The certificate can be viewed here.