Graduate (MSW) Social Work Internships
Clinical Practice Internships for Graduate Students
Every academic year, the Department of Social Work at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) offers internships for master's in social work (MSW) graduate programs.
Students are recruited from area schools, such as Simmons University School of Social Work, Boston University School of Social Work, Salem State University, Westfield State University, Bridgewater State University, and Boston College School of Social Work.
The student internship placements span many of the inpatient and outpatient service areas at BIDMC and each year, internship opportunities are shared with school field liaisons in early January.
Program Goals
The goal of the program is to train social work master-level students in clinical practice in a healthcare setting. This practice includes working with individuals, families, and groups, as well as collaboration with a multidisciplinary staff. The goals of the training program are to help students develop skills in the following areas:
- Biopsychosocial assessments
- Treatment planning
- Individual, family, and/or group treatment
- Short- and long-term treatment interventions
- Case management
- Evaluation and management of ethical dilemmas
- Advocacy
- Crisis intervention
- The differential use of self
- Recognition of the larger social context in which problems emerge
The development of a conceptual and theoretical framework is emphasized in the training and provides the context for the interns' practice. Psychodynamic and systemic perspectives inform the interns' formulations of their work.
Supervision and Training
The Social Work Department invests heavily in creating a robust and dynamic training and supervisory experience for students, providing access to:
- Weekly supervision onsite by an LICSW
- Weekly on-site 90 Min Seminar with both didactic learning and student-led case presentations facilitated by LICSW with MSW student cohort
- Hospital-wide training in Epic, Emergency procedures, HIPPA, staff safety, and other regulatory required trainings
- Shadowing program to observe social work in areas of interest across the hospital
- Access to Social Work Grand Rounds and Psychiatry Grand Rounds
To monitor and assess the effectiveness of the student program, oversight is provided in the following manner:
- Monthly meetings of student supervisors
- Year-end evaluation of student program by the students
- Meetings at least twice a year with field advisors from each school
- Written mid-year and end-of-year evaluations of each student by their primary supervisor
- Ongoing contact between the BIDMC Social Work Internship Coordinator and the Director of Field Work at each school
