MSW in Clinical Social Work

What You’ll Learn

Our MSW program is built on the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) core competencies, with an added emphasis on clinical and medical social work. Students will graduate with the knowledge and skills to:

• Demonstrate ethical and professional behavior
• Advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice
• Engage diversity and difference in practice
• Integrate research into practice and vice versa
• Influence and engage in policy practice
• Work effectively with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities
• Conduct comprehensive assessments
• Deliver evidence-based interventions
• Evaluate outcomes and impact
• Promote health and well-being through clinical social work

Program Highlights

• Total Credit Hours: 62 SCH
• Advanced Standing: 30 SCH (for CSWE-accredited BSW holders)
• Duration: 2 years full-time

*This program does not grant social work course credit for life experience nor previous work experience. Academic credit toward the MSW degree may only be awarded for courses completed through regionally accredited institutions of higher education and evaluated through the program’s established course evaluation procedures. This policy applies to all applicants, admitted students, and enrolled students, including those in both the regular and advanced standing tracks. No exceptions are permitted.

Year 1: Generalist Curriculum

Build a strong foundation in:

• Social work practice skills
• Human behavior and the social environment
• Social welfare policy and services
• Field instruction

Year 2: Clinical Specialization

Deepen your expertise in:

• Evidence-based clinical practice
• Mental health care and counseling
• Case management
• Leadership in clinical settings
• Electives in clinical and medical social work

Field Education: Learn by Doing

Fieldwork is the heart of social work education. Students complete:

• Two field practicums (one per year) in real-world settings
• Advanced Standing students complete one practicum
• A capstone project integrated into the Advanced Seminar and Field Practicum II

Field placements are tailored to your interests and career goals, offering hands-on experience in hospitals, clinics, schools, and community organizations.

For Your Application, you will have to answer the following questions for your personal statement. 

Please answer the following questions in no more than 5, double-spaced pages. Use APA style citation for sources.  

1. Purpose and program fit
   Describe what draws you to clinical social work in health care settings. Then describe the direction you see yourself moving in professionally, such as the kinds of settings, patient populations, or practice questions you want to explore, and what you will need to learn in order to be prepared for that work. You are not expected to have chosen a specialty, and applicants at every stage of certainty are welcome; if you are still deciding, describe what you want the program to help you figure out and how you plan to go about it. Finally, explain why this program, at this point in your life, is the right way to get that preparation.
2. A health inequity that concerns you
   Identify one health disparity or barrier to care that concerns you. Describe what you understand about its causes, including the social, economic, or structural factors that sustain it. Then explain what you believe a clinical social worker can realistically do about it in direct practice with patients and families.
3. Preparation for work in health settings                                                                                                            Describe paid, volunteer, or academic experience relevant to health, behavioral health, or human services, particularly with communities that face barriers to care. What did that experience teach you about your strengths and your limitations as a helping professional, and how has it shaped the kind of practitioner you want to become? Do not include information that could identify a patient, client, or coworker.
4. Ethics in health care practice
   Review the NASW Code of Ethics (https://www.socialworkers.org/about/ethics/code-of-ethics/code-of-ethics-english). Identify one standard you expect to be most challenging to uphold in a health care setting, explain why, and describe how you would use the Code to guide your reasoning. Health settings raise recurring tensions, for example between patient self-determination and a recommended course of treatment, or between confidentiality and information sharing on an interdisciplinary team. You may draw on one of these or on a tension you anticipate in your own area of interest.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, both healthcare and mental health social work roles are projected to grow by nearly 10% over the next decade, well above the national average.

Program Faculty

Christine Bakos-Block

PhD, LCSW

Associate Professor; Program Director, MSW in Clinical Social Work

Meaghan Cowles

DSW, LCSW-S, BCD

Assistant Professor; Field Director, MSW in Clinical Social Work

Caitlyn Mytelka

PhD

Assistant Professor; Associate Program Director, MSW in Clinical Social Work

Leila Wood

PhD, MSSW

Professor