Thursday, November 19, 2009

Medical Social Worker?

I am going for my Bachelor's in Psychology and a minor in either communication or sociology, I also plan on taking some biology courses. I want to be a Medical Social Worker with emphasis on neonatal care(preferably preemies because I am one and have a lot of passion for the care of them). There aren't that many schools offering social work master degree programs around me, what are my options, also can anyone tell me what a Medical Social Worker deals with? I'm looking either at being a social worker or counselor, any info or relevant experience in either field would be nice to hear from! Thank you!!!

Medical Social Worker?
You might consider Smith college of social work, they do a concentrated program with 3 months in residence and then 9 mos in your town. However, you may want to also consider moving to do your MSW in a big city with a good teaching hospital known for neonatial work. Getting an internship in a place like this will open up many doors (So Boston, NYC and other major cities would be best and there are many good schools in most of the big cities.) DA
Reply:The social work department of your community hospital may agree to allow you to shadow one of their social workers for a few hours so you can get a feel for what you would be doing all day. The medical social workers in the hospitals I worked in did discharge planning, for the most part. This entails setting up at-home care, follow-up by the visiting nurse, referrals to hospice and other community resources, and arranging patient transportation, among other things.


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