Hi all,
I’m getting ready to graduate in June with my MSW (yay!!) and am beginning to look at job opportunities in the field. I have a background in homeless services and housing case management and my current internship is at a community college counseling center.
I found a job with a local primary care clinic as a behavioral health social worker and I’m wondering how feasible it is to land a medical SW job without prior medical/clinic specific experience?
I do have a lot of experience with higher acuity clients from my previous case management job and did a ton of resource navigation, crisis response, care coordination with medical providers and other community partners, and think I have very solid case management skills. In my internship I’ve been providing brief, solutions-focused counseling that’s very focused on developing coping strategies and short term interventions. The position I’m looking at is very focused on brief interventions so I believe I have some foundational knowledge and abilities that would work in the clinic setting. I have done lots of general assessments like the PHQ-9, GAD-7, and C-SSRS but don’t have much experience with substance-specific assessments which is a major part of the behavioral health role I’m looking at.
From others who have moved into medical social work from a different part of the field, how challenging was it to make that transition?