Public Health and Social Work: Training Dual Professionals for the Contemporary Workplace

• Published in: Public health reports (1974) 2008-01, Vol.123 (2_suppl), p.71-77
• Main Authors: Ruth, Betty J., Sisco, Sarah, Wyatt, Jamie, Bethke, Christina, Bachman, Sara S., Piper, Tinka Markham
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic improvement; Collaboration; Communities; Competency-Based Education; Cooperative Behavior; Coordination; Ecology; Education, Graduate; Emergence; Employers; Ethics; Evaluation; Focus Groups; Group research; Health Problems; Health promotion; Humans; Infrastructure; Institutions; Interprofessional Relations; Marketing; Medical practice; Motivation; Pilot Projects; Profession; Professional Practice; Professional training; Professionalism; Professions; Public Health; Public Health - education; Public Schools; Public works; Qualitative Research; Recognition; Research methods; Schools; Social behavior; Social Work; Social Work - education; Training; United States; Workforce; Workplace; Workplaces
• ISSN: 0033-3549; 1468-2877
• DOI: 10.1177/00333549081230S210

Objectives. The emergence of new, complex social health concerns demands that the public health field strengthen its capacity to respond. Academic institutions are vital to improving the public health infrastructure. Collaborative and transdisciplinary practice competencies are increasingly viewed as key components of public health training. The social work profession, with its long-standing involvement in public health and emphasis on ecological approaches, has been a partner in many transdisciplinary community-based efforts. The more than 20 dual-degree programs in public health and social work currently offered reflect this collaborative history. This study represents an exploratory effort to evaluate the impact of these programs on the fields of public health and social work. Methods. This study explored motivations, perspectives, and experiences of 41 graduates from four master of social work/master of public health (MSW/MPH) programs. Four focus groups were conducted using traditional qualitative methods during 2004. Results. Findings suggest that MSW/MPH alumni self-selected into dual programs because of their interest in the missions, ethics, and practices of both professions. Participants highlighted the challenges and opportunities of dual professionalism, including the struggle to better define public health social work in the workplace. Conclusions. Implications for academic public health focus on how schools can improve MSW/MPH programs to promote transdisciplinary collaboration. Increased recognition, better coordination, and greater emphasis on marketing to prospective employers were suggested. A national evaluation of MSW/MPH graduates could strengthen the roles and contributions of public health social work to the public health infrastructure. A conceptual framework, potentially based on developmental theory, could guide this evaluation of the MSW/MPH training experience.