Career: Medical and Public Health Social Workers
Our society hates to think about illness and death. We want to imagine that we'll live forever -- young and pain-free.
Medical and public health social workers are among those rare beings willing to look illness and death in the face. Sure, they do all they can to help people get well -- but when illness is terminal (deadly), they turn their attention to helping their clients die peacefully.
Medical and public health social workers help people cope with serious illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and AIDS.
Did You Know?
- Social workers need to have healthy lifestyles so they can handle the stress of caring for people who face very challenging problems.
Are You Ready To...?
- Counsel people with diverse backgrounds and illnesses
- Arrange for at-home services for people discharged from hospitals
- Advise family caregivers
- Keep records and complete paperwork
- Work with other professionals
- Take good care of yourself to avoid burnout
It Helps to Be...
Someone who can see the beauty and courage in people with serious illnesses, even if their bodies are sick and weak. Be ready to go to bat for your clients, helping them get the services and programs they need.
Make High School Count
- Sign up to be a peer counselor at your school.
- Volunteer to chat and play games with patients at a hospital or hospice (a place for people with terminal illnesses) or read aloud to them.
- Take psychology to learn about human development, emotions, and communication.
- Build a foundation for understanding illness in biology and health science classes.
- Read about famous social workers such as Jane Addams, Frances Perkins, and Whitney M. Young, Jr.
Did You Know?
- The eighth-century Buddhist Tibetan Book of the Dead was written to show people how to face the period after death.
Outlook
Government economists expect job growth for medical and public health social workers to be much faster than the average for all careers through 2016.
One reason is that hospital stays are shorter than they used to be. People often need attention after they leave the hospital, and social workers can provide it. Also, people in the
Many of the job openings in social work are due to high turnover -- people often leave the field because of low pay and high stress.
Compensation
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, medical and public health social workers earned an average income of $47,560 in 2008.
