Chaplain resident vs medical social worker

The differences between chaplain residents and medical social workers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a chaplain resident, becoming a medical social worker takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a medical social worker has an average salary of $57,093, which is higher than the $45,343 average annual salary of a chaplain resident.

The top three skills for a chaplain resident include patients, clinical pastoral education and spiritual care. The most important skills for a medical social worker are social work, patients, and home health.

Chaplain resident vs medical social worker overview

	Chaplain Resident	Medical Social Worker
Yearly salary	$45,343	$57,093
Hourly rate	$21.80	$27.45
Growth rate	12%	9%
Number of jobs	7,901	87,792
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 48%	Master's Degree, 48%
Average age	51	45
Years of experience	4	2

What does a chaplain resident do?

A Chaplain Resident provides emotional and spiritual care to patients, families, and staff. They help families and other groups of people to deal with issues of crisis, grief, death, and bereavement.

What does a medical social worker do?

A medical social worker specializes in managing a patient's health care and welfare while communicating with guardians or families, focusing on helping them cope and understand the medical conditions and situations. They are primarily responsible for assessing a patient's condition to identify their needs, conducting interviews to gather background information regarding the patient and family, and referring any social service programs that may provide them with the assistance or help they need. Furthermore, it is crucial to identify any signs of abuse or neglect and conduct intervention procedures right away.

Chaplain resident vs medical social worker salary

Chaplain residents and medical social workers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Chaplain Resident	Medical Social Worker
Average salary	$45,343	$57,093
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $77,000	Between $42,000 And $77,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	Health Advocates
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between chaplain resident and medical social worker education

There are a few differences between a chaplain resident and a medical social worker in terms of educational background:

	Chaplain Resident	Medical Social Worker
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 48%	Master's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Theology	Social Work
Most common college	Emory University	University of Pennsylvania

Chaplain resident vs medical social worker demographics

Here are the differences between chaplain residents' and medical social workers' demographics:

	Chaplain Resident	Medical Social Worker
Average age	51	45
Gender ratio	Male, 57.4% Female, 42.6%	Male, 14.3% Female, 85.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 6.7% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 19.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 3.3% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	16%	13%

Differences between chaplain resident and medical social worker duties and responsibilities

Chaplain resident example responsibilities.

Manage pediatrics emergencies, indoor & outdoor patients, neonatal & intensive care units.
Provide pastoral care and facilitate spiritual assessments of mental illness patients with substance abuse, moral injury and spiritual pain/conflict.
Provide referrals and assist with Medicaid and Medicare issues.
Assign units include psychiatric (adult and pediatric), labor/delivery, oncology, and medical/surgical.
Assist many people: veterans, homeless, disable, poor, chronically ill, and the mentally ill.
Participate in interdisciplinary team and ethics committee.

Medical social worker example responsibilities.

Understand manage care, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.
Humanize the medical setting for elderly patients by using appropriate compassion in explaining complex information.
Provide crisis intervention, supportive counseling and trauma/grief counseling for patients and their families experiencing acute or chronic traumatic events.
Provide hands-on assessment and monitoring of suspect child abuse and neglect cases of children needing intensive rehabilitation and specialize care.
Provide social casework to patients having difficulty in social functioning, primarily as it affects their health and emotional rehabilitation.
Facilitate family counseling, crisis intervention, and assessments of specials population including geriatrics, homeless and substance abusing veterans.

Chaplain resident vs medical social worker skills

Common chaplain resident skills

Patients, 27%
Clinical Pastoral Education, 10%
Spiritual Care, 8%
Pastoral Care, 8%
Residency, 5%
Patient Care, 5%

Common medical social worker skills

Social Work, 24%
Patients, 19%
Home Health, 11%
MSW, 7%
Patient Care, 6%
Crisis Intervention, 3%

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Chaplain Resident
Chaplain Resident vs Medical Social Worker

Updated January 8, 2025

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