I was reading these forums and came across someone who stated they were a medical social worker. What exactly does a medical social worker do? Is there a specific program for this?

I am currently a pre-nursing student to begin clinicals in the fall, but am very much interested in social work and wondering if I should change fields. I am a 2nd career student and am 40 years old so I am making a big change.

Thanks

Debi

Hi Debi,
A medical social worker is an MSW (masters degree) who specialized in physical health. We work in hospitals, home health, hospices, nursing homes, etc. Most states require a medical sw to do these jobs.
As a hospital social worker, you counsel families and/or patients on medical decisions, depression, getting the care they need after discharge, all kinds of things come up. In home health, you make home visits to people who have a problem relating to their health diagnosis, such as depression, a family problem, needing more care, etc.
Hospice social workers help families and patients deal with all the problems and issues that come with a dying patient. Including dealing with grief and getting ready to die, they see the family for a year after the death of the patient.
medical social workers also can go to other fields as an MSW, but other MSWs cannot go into medical social work (at least not in Missouri). Hope this helps.--Cindy

BTW- if you are interested, a double degree of BSN and MSW would be excellent.

Cindy,

Thanks for the info. I think medical social work would be the area I would most be interested in. You can do a double degree of BSN then MSW? Do you know if a person can go right into the MSW after their receiving their BSN?

Thanks again

Debi

Debi, if you are accepted by the program, you can start your MSW after the BSN. It is about 60 credit hours. Full time it is about 2 years. My school did not allow part time students, but many places do so you can work and work on your MSW also. Some places of employment may even help with college expenses.
Good Luck, if you want to ask more, you can comment here or email me by clicking on my username above.

I'm what you might call a "medical social worker."
I've worked in hospital & medical environments for 20 years. The roles of medical social workers have changed a lot over the years. Cindy has given you some pretty good advice. An important point for you to consider is that in the US most states' now restrict the use of the title "social worker" to those who've graduated from schools whose social work curriculums are specifically licensed by the Council on social Work Education (CSWE)

Degrees in "social services," "Human services",& "Family Service" are often pitched as social work degrees, and may in fact be good courses but they may also limit your ability to find a social work job or get into the graduate program you want. So be cautious and ask specific questions of the school.
NOW, medical social work... Many hospitals are now employing nurses in role once held by social workers. I strongly believe that this is generally a grave disservice to many patients and families. The mission has in many cases shifted from being sure that every thing is taken care of before the patient leaves the hospital to, "get that patient out of here right now! I don't care if his family can't come until later, I don't care that he doesn't have the resourses to buy his medicine, I don't care if you think his daughter is hurting him, I don't care if the only nursing home that has said they'd taken him is under investigation for manslaughter, get him out NOW!"
Remember the basis for this profession of social work is advocacy and care for vulnerable populations.

I work alot with helping people get meds they need, applying for disability or public assistance, finding housing, dealing with child & adult abuse, domestic violence, end of life issues, health education, depression & anxiety related to disease states, arranging nursing home ,rehabilitive care,& home health care, helping families trying to take care of elderly parents, and sick childre, infertility and adoption. on and on.... (Oh and increasingly I do a lot of paper work, filling out or helping to fill out forms and explaining the incredibly complicated set of rules for insurance and medicare & medicaid! ugh!!!) Gary