Oncology Social Work

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wesleysmith

LCSW
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I was curious if anybody had experience working as an oncology social worker? I am starting my MSW program this Fall and am interested in working in mental health, but I am also interested in medical social work, and from what I've gathered through job postings it seems as though working as an osw may afford me the opportunity to strike a balance between counseling and medical social work (case management, connecting patients to resources, discharge planning etc.), however, some of the job descriptions can be pretty generic or ambiguous at times so I was hoping for some personal insight. Any information, whether from experience or through acquaintances, would be greatly appreciated!

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I just had my "foundation year" practicum (not sure if terminology is the same at all schools) at a cancer center. I worked in an outpatient center, and I've learned that inpatient vs. outpatient can make a big difference in the type of work that you do on a daily basis. In my experience, I didn't find there to be much connecting to patients. But that is the nature of outpatient and how my center operates. To compare, a fellow student at my site said she had worked on an inpatient hemacology oncology floor and she described the work to be similar to what you describe.

In my personal opinion, if you really want to have a job with a thorough mix of health and mental health -- you might want to look at any transplant services. Each patient has to have a full biopsychosocial intake session with a LCSW and you generally then have to work with them throughout the whole transplant process. I followed a bone marrow transplant social worker as part of the experience with the cancer center, and the duties he performed were a lot more involved/complex than the case management things that both the general oncology social workers (inpatient and outpatient) both performed.

Also, this might be a little bit harder to locate a job in, but there are some parts of the country that are really starting to focus on the "medical home" model as well as outcome based healthcare. As part of a different program, I've been working in a PCP setting using the medical home model and it has been incredible. We work as a team evaluating patients, the social workers are there to evaluate the social aspects of the patients issues and help find solutions to barriers that may be impeding healthcare. I have learned soooooooo much about other professionals and their role as well as mine!

Basically if you are looking for a mental challenge -- find the most complicated medical specialty. If the social workers there are used properly (not as overpaid case managers) you will find that your duties increase in complexity as well.

Another note, I only got into these type of practicums as a first year student because I had experience working in the medical field (biller and coder) and I already knew the terminology and was very experienced working in the healthcare setting (I didn't just work in a back office away from everyone). I was always the only first year student out of the bunch, so I'd say my experiences were the exception rather than the rule.

Also, I have heard RUMORS, can't verify because I've never worked there, that in some VA settings social workers have to know a lot about both because of all the morbidities that veterans deal with. Also VA hospitals have both medical and mental health social workers, which I'm sure both positions have to deal with a lot of cross over. I've heard though that in some VA's the social workers are solely used for case management type duties.
 
Wow, thank you for that detailed response! Do you need to specialize during grad school or work in that exact setting during your internship to work as a transplant or oncology social worker (or any other subspecialty for that matter), or is it more just about getting hospital/mental health/clinical experience during that time and then working your way into those areas during your supervised hours? Thanks again!
 
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wesleysmith,
My second year field placement is at the VA. Most VA's have moved to a interdisciplinary team approach and I am privileged to work with SW'rs, MD's, NP's, PsyD's, Psychiatrists, and their interns. My school is on the East Coast, but when I worked at the VA on the West Coast I saw many SW'r in largely case management type roles. I am eager to begin my field placement and I think the training and experience will be PHENOMENAL. Many schools in this area require a student to be in his/her advanced year to take a placement at the VA and other hospital. If this is something your interested in I suggest that you advocate for yourself and voice your desire to your advisor /field department early on. I was pretty adamant about it and am now reaping the dividends. I cant speak to oncology SW but it it came up as an option an option for placement during my interview with the VA. I chose the Mood and Anxiety Disorder Clinic
 
That's where I am confused; off the top of my head I can probably say I would have done the same as you. My only concern is that the experience gained during the internship is the experience that's going to determine what sort of jobs I get after graduation and I won't know without hands on experience what exactly I'd want to be doing. I guess that's why I was hoping there was some perfect hospital position where you gain experience in both so you are more marketable to a broader field (medical OR mental health) so I don't have to make the choice based off what I think it will be like instead of what I KNOW it will be like (really long sentence). Anyways, thanks for the information!
 
Wesley -- are you going into a two year program? If you are going into a two year program you will have the opportunity to go to two different sites. Each university sets it up a little differently, so your mileage may vary. I had my first year placement at one site, and my second year placement will be at a different site. I purposely went medical on my first year, and I'm looking to do mental health on my second practicum. I did this explicitly to get experience in different areas. Our school has a really involved health program, and even she suggested it would be better if I work at two different sites. My current site invited me back for my second year practicum, but I wanted to add a different experience to my resume.

It would make sense that you should only be able to get a job in areas you have experience in, but it doesn't always work that way. I've seen social workers (though I think this is probably generalizable to the general public) get jobs in all kinds of things they did not have exact experience in. But to actually answer your question, you don't have to specialize in a specific specialty to work in it later. It helps, but it is not always necessary. If you want to go strictly mental health, that's a little bit different. It doesn't sound like that's what you want though.

In my first year practicum, my site (the cancer center) was part of a larger health plex (the medical school at my university and its associated hospital). I was advised to take advantage of that and went on site visits and wrote shadowing into my contract. I shadowed several social workers all over the whole complex and was able to get a better idea of what they each do. The hospital inpatient social workers do a lot of discharge planning and outpatient social workers do a lot of resource management -- co pay assistance program applications, directing people on how to apply for medicaid etc. I was even lucky enough to get put on loan to the bone marrow transplant unit for a day a week to get a better picture of what they do. That is something else you might want to consider, see if potential sites have shadowing opportunities so you can actually get snapshots of different fields. That will help you with the "know" part! I really identify with that statement.

Use your first year experience to help you fine tune things, then your second year placement to get serious!
 
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Use your first year experience to help you fine tune things, then your second year placement to get serious!
This is my new game plan. Thanks again, Goobernut, you've been extremely helpful!
 
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