Are you entering or considering a Master of Social Work Program? Although pursuing an MSW may sound intimidating and nerve-wracking there are many resources out there to help guide you through the process. Certain things like the required amount of field hours may vary between schools, however, some things are to be expected from most or every Master of Social Work Program. In this post, I’ll explain in detail what I’ve learned after completing my first year in an MSW program and what you can expect in terms of course expectations and field education.
Social Work Field Education
If field education was a requirement for your bachelor’s degree, you may already be familiar with how it works. However, if you completed your bachelor’s degree in focus areas like Psychology or Sociology, you may have had zero experience with field education. Having completed my bachelor’s in psychology, I found myself entering the first semester of my master’s program with a whole bunch of unanswered questions regarding field education. In my program, field education is a “class” that I enroll for during the next semester’s registration period. However, instead of being a regular class, you will be attending weekly amounts of hours at your internship placement. Due to my school’s requirement, I had to be at my field placement 21 hours a week, adding up to a total of 600 hours per year. Field requirements must be met in order to be able to receive your degree.
Getting Placed
While every school has a different process for finding placements for students, in my experience, my first-year internship was chosen for me. The field director chose my placement based on my preferences in terms of the age group I wanted to work with as well as the population and setting that most interested me. For my second-year placement, I had more of a say in terms of where I wanted to be placed and my field advisor worked with me closely in order to find the best fit.
Your placement experience may consist of weekly supervision meetings with your field instructor (supervisor at your placement) where you’ll get the opportunity to pose questions and review your cases and progress. You may also review your process recordings during supervision meetings, which are basically detailed scripts of an interaction you had with a client along with your reflections. You may submit anywhere from one to two process recordings to your supervisor on a weekly basis.
Unpaid Placements
One of my most significant challenges was financial barriers as a result of field education. Unfortunately, these placements are often unpaid, further exacerbating any financial struggle students may be experiencing during this time. Although many students are advocating for paid placements, that is still an ongoing battle. The long number of hours in field also makes working incredibly hard. In my case, 21 hours a week during the Fall and Spring semester, left me with little to no time to work an outside job. Although field education is time-consuming, I’m grateful for all I learned and the skills I’ve developed during this time.
Equally important, field education gives you the opportunity to see if you indeed want to work with a specific age group or population in the future. Another aspect of social work field education is providing assistance and support to individuals who are facing challenging circumstances in life and are in need. Despite our professionalism, sometimes our client’s circumstances may elicit feelings of sadness and worry. Although experiencing such feelings is totally normal, it underscores the importance of taking care of oneself during the course of the program and social work career.
Social Work Courses
As a full-time, student, my schedule consisted of five courses in the Fall and Spring, including field instruction. The courses you take will vary depending on what track you pursue whether it be clinical practice or community organizing and planning. Although each school may vary, I found my first-year professors to be very understanding and flexible. Professors in the social work field are aware of the heavy coursework students have and the responsibilities tied to field education. Thus, they may work with students and attempt to lighten the coursework to make their lives easier.
Despite my professor’s being flexible and understanding, I still ended up with tons of weekly readings and discussion board posts. After some time, you’ll learn to skim all the texts in order to stay afloat. I must also say that my professors did not administer even one exam throughout the year. All of my assignments consisted of papers, discussion board posts, and process recordings. Thus, it is a writing-intensive program, to say the least.
Resources
Once you’ve been accepted to the school of your choice, keep an eye on your email as you will most likely receive invitations to meetings that discuss registration procedures and allow the space to ask specific questions and address general concerns. Another resource I’ve found to be helpful is the student handbook or manual. If you see this on your school’s website, be sure to read it as it will give you a detailed review of your school’s expectations concerning field education and your required courses.
Another factor that has shaped my experience and has made my life easier is how connected my school’s community is. Not only is there a group chat for every single one of my classes but there is a whole school group chat and Facebook page where we can ask more general questions and share resources. This is something I’m definitely grateful for as I did not experience this while getting my Bachelor’s degree. Thus, use the people in your school community and if there are no existing group chats, be the first to make them! Even if you don’t have any specific questions, you may find resources that you are interested in and that make your lives easier.
Self-Care
Throughout the program, you may have to make some sacrifices whether that is working fewer hours or taking time off, or spending less time going out with friends. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, some of the things going on in our clients’ lives may be challenging to hear and can affect our own emotional well-being. Thus, it is important to understand that although we are professionals, we still have feelings, and our feelings are valid. This emphasizes the importance of making sure we are taking care of ourselves both mentally and physically. For tips and techniques about ways in which you can engage in self-care read our Self-Care Take Care: 5 Self- Care Tips and Techniques post!
If you have any further questions about my experience in an MSW program, we’d love to hear them and I’ll be more than happy to answer any questions! Congratulations on considering this next chapter in your life.
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