last year i did my MSW internship at the VA, in the mental health department. i loved it there & have been on the lookout for openings at VA facilities across the country. it was great to understand a {huge} part of our society more & find a way to serve people who serve in the military. it was also eye-opening & humbling.
this year i am doing my final internship at the local hospital. i have wanted to work at this hospital since we moved to here & i feel fortunate to have this coveted internship position. i started this week, with a bit of anxiety & uncertainty about exactly what i would be doing there. medical social work is difficult to conceptualize & explain, yet i have been drawn to it for years.
i now know why it is difficult to understand... because the entire work day flies by in a rush, with a buzz of energy & need surrounding you at all times, while you try to problem solve everything in a patient's life that is impacted by their medical condition. essentially, our medical crises don't happen in a vacuum & the medical social worker's job {at least a portion of it} is to address the universe of issues & needs that surround admission to the hospital. health, illness, life, death, success & failure--it all happens every day in every hospital. now, i get to be part of it!
when i started the MSW program, i felt like the faculty made it their mission to dissuade my plans to work as a medical/oncology social work plans. i heard repeatedly that my goals would change as i went through the program. i feel proud to know with certainty that i wasn't wrong about my goals, despite my lack of knowledge. being in this internship placement confirms that the medical field is where i want to begin my career.