A Virtual Field Practicum: Building Core Competencies Prior to Agency Placement

Providing effective services to clients with increasingly severe challenges in an era of fiscal constraints calls for schools of social work to assume greater responsibility for preparing interns for clinical practice. This article describes a virtual field practicum (VFP), an online skill-building...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of social work education 2018-10, Vol.54 (4), p.620-640
Main Authors: Phillips, Elizabeth S., Wood, Gary J., Yoo, Jane, Ward, Kristin J., Hsiao, Suh Chen, Singh, Melissa I., Morris, Brittani
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Blended Learning
Caseworker Approach
Caseworkers
Clinical Diagnosis
Clinical medicine
Core competencies
Counselor Training
Empathy
Evidence Based Practice
Internet
Minimum Competencies
Practice placements
Practicums
Problem Solving
Professional practice
School social work
Self Management
Simulation
Social Work
Students
Teachers
Virtual Classrooms
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Providing effective services to clients with increasingly severe challenges in an era of fiscal constraints calls for schools of social work to assume greater responsibility for preparing interns for clinical practice. This article describes a virtual field practicum (VFP), an online skill-building experience designed to meet this need and reports preliminary findings. The VFP employs client simulation and other experiential activities; its intent is to foster student acquisition of core competencies prior to agency placement. Longitudinal data were collected on VFP students and their traditional counterparts across 4 semesters. Results show that VFP students performed as well, if not slightly better, on competency measures than traditional students, suggesting that this model is a viable option for educators to consider.
ISSN:1043-7797
2163-5811
DOI:10.1080/10437797.2018.1486651