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Medical social worker education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a medical social worker. Medical social workers usually study social work, psychology, or sociology. 48% of medical social workers hold a master's degree, and 46% hold an bachelor's degree. We analyzed 10,938 real medical social worker resumes to see exactly what medical social worker education sections show.
The most common colleges for medical social workers are the Wayne State University and the Wayne State University.
There are also many online medical social worker courses to help get the education required to be a medical social worker.
There are certain medical social worker certifications that you should consider. These medical social worker certifications include Certification in Forensic Social Work (CFSW) and Academy of Certified Social Workers Credential (ACSW).
What education do you need to become a medical social worker?
What degree do you need to be a medical social worker?
- Master's, 48%
- Bachelor's, 46%
- Associate, 4%
- Doctorate, 1%
- Other Degrees, 1%
What should I major in to become a medical social worker?
- Social Work, 66%
- Psychology, 11%
- Sociology, 4%
- Other Majors, 16%
Most common colleges for medical social workers
| Medical social worker common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| Wayne State University | 6.66% |
| University of Southern California | 6.43% |
| San Diego State University | 6.28% |
| Arizona State University | 6.05% |
| Florida State University | 5.98% |
Best majors for medical social workers
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Social Work | 65.9% |
| 2 | Psychology | 11.4% |
| 3 | Sociology | 4.5% |
| 4 | Mental Health Counseling | 3.4% |
| 5 | Human Services | 2.1% |
Best colleges for medical social workers
The best colleges for medical social workers are Boston College, Boston University, and University of Pennsylvania.
A medical social worker with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for medical social workers. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become medical social workers.
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$8,987
Enrollment
18,946
3. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$56,225
Enrollment
19,548
4. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Enrollment
31,503
5. Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA • Private
In-state tuition
$55,464
Enrollment
9,639
6. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,488
Enrollment
30,018
7. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Enrollment
32,072
8. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,182
Enrollment
16,205
9. Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH • Private
In-state tuition
$49,042
Enrollment
5,131
10. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
In-state tuition
$53,948
Enrollment
17,238
20 best online courses for medical social workers
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1. Social Policy for Social Services & Health Practitioners
In the U.S., social policy accounts for two-thirds of government spending. Knowing how policies are constructed, what values underlie them, and how they succeed or fail makes everyone more effective at work or in their civic role. This specialization includes an HONORS track in which learners will complete a professional social policy analysis.\n\nTeachers, health care workers, police, and social workers interact with policy daily, but all of us should care about the impact and effectiveness of...
2. Medical Emergencies: Airway, Breathing, and Circulation
In this course, you will develop the knowledge and skills to assess and stabilize certain types of patients for transport. By the end of this course, you will be able to: 1) assess a basic medical patient 2) describe general pharmacologic principles and the skills associated with medication administration, 3) explain airway physiology, the assessment of the airway and available interventions for airway management, 4) identify, assess and formulate a plan to stabilize a patient with a...
3. Medical Terminology
Introduction to the meaning of various roots, terms and combining forms that are components of medical words...
4. Speak Medical Spanish to Your Patients and Clients
Spanish essentials for healthcare; program teaches correct pronunciation, pain management and medication, among others...
5. Prehospital care of acute stroke and patient selection for endovascular treatment using the RACE scale
Acute stroke is a time-dependent medical emergency. In acute ischemic stroke, the first objective is to restore brain flow using sistemic thrombolytic treatment and, in patients with large vessel occlusion, by endovascular treatment. In hemorrhagic stroke there are also specific treatments that can improve the clinical outcome. The sooner the initiation of all these therapies the higher the clinical benefit. Thus, the organization of Stroke Code systems coordinated between emergency medical...
6. Population Health: Syndemics
Do you wish to contribute to breaking cycles of ill-health in disadvantaged populations? And explore co-occurrence of diseases, such as substance abuse, infectious and chronic disease, and the relation with social factors (disparities)? Are you disappointed in the poor effectiveness of interventions for combined social and medical problems? Then this syndemics course might provide you with some answers. In medicine, diseases are generally approached as distinct entities, in isolation from other...
7. ICD 10 & 11 Medical Coding and Billing
Preparation for Medical Coding Certification Exam...
8. Addiction & Mental Health - Chemically Speaking Two (2hrs)
Substance Abuse & Mental Health Interventions - Understand Drug & Alcohol Addiction & Mental Health. How to help people...
9. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care
This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...
10. Medical Emergencies: CPR, Toxicology, and Wilderness
In this course, you will develop the knowledge and skills to assess and stabilize certain types of patients for transport. By the end of this course, you will be able to: (1) Identify the signs and symptoms associated with a patient in shock, to describe the major categories of shock, to assess a patient with signs of shock and formulate a plan for treatment to stabilize the patient for transport, (2) Identify a patient in cardiac arrest and to describe the components of high performance CPR...
11. Understanding Medications and Therapeutics
Helping you build the best foundation to truly understand medications and develop clinical reasoning skills...
12. Addiction & Mental Health (Dual Diagnosis) Integrative 12hrs
Substance Abuse & Mental Health Interventions: Drug & Alcohol Addiction & Mental Health - Integrative Holistic Approach...
13. The Influence of Social Context on Health
Why are some groups healthier than others, and how do these differences emerge and persist over the life course? How do social policies (e.g., housing, transportation, employment) relate to health and health inequalities? Why are there health disparities even in countries that have free universal health care? This course will address conceptual models for understanding health disparities in the US and internationally, how population science identifies the main sources of these disparities, and...
14. COVID-19 Training for Healthcare Workers
COVID-19 is rapidly spreading across the globe and all providers must be prepared to recognize, stabilize and treat patients with novel coronavirus infection. Following completion of this short course physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals will have a unified, evidenced-based approach to saving the lives of patients with COVID-19, including those who are critically ill. Learning modules are broken into short videos presented in a richly illustrated and compelling manner. The...
15. A Specialty Approach to Learning Medical Billing and Coding
Volume One: Medical Hematology...
16. Introduction to Medical Imaging
Your guide to the history, science, math, and economics of medical imaging systems (e.g., X-ray, CT, MRI, Ultrasound)...
17. Medical Terminology
This specialization is intended for anybody that is interested in developing skills in medical language or preparing for further studies in the medical field. Learners will be able to identify common prefixes, suffixes, roots and abbreviations so they can recognize most medical terms used by medical professionals. Learners will also have an understanding of the structure of an electronic health record and extract vital information from it. Moreover, learners will gain basic knowledge of the...
18. HI-FIVE: Health Informatics For Innovation, Value & Enrichment (Social/Peer Perspective)
HI-FIVE (Health Informatics For Innovation, Value & Enrichment) Training is an approximately 10-hour online course designed by Columbia University in 2016, with sponsorship from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The training is role-based and uses case scenarios. No additional hardware or software are required for this course. Our nation’s healthcare system is changing at a rapid pace. Transformative health care delivery programs depend heavily on...
19. Social Media for Healthcare Providers
Social media and HIPPA compliance training for covered entities that transmit health information...
20. Medical Terminology 101
For those in healthcare, billing, and more. Boost earning ability and marketable skills by learning to speak medicine...
Top 10 most affordable universities for medical social workers
The most affordable schools for medical social workers are Hunter College of the City University of New York, california state university - long beach, and brigham young university.
If the best universities for medical social workers are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for medical social workers.
1. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,182
Cost of attendance
13,998
2. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
3. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
4. Baruch College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,262
Cost of attendance
14,046
5. Florida International University
Miami, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,556
Cost of attendance
19,434
6. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
7. Minot State University
Minot, ND • Private
In-state tuition
$7,064
Cost of attendance
15,576
8. California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,886
Cost of attendance
17,645
9. Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$4,831
Cost of attendance
19,559
10. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,942
Cost of attendance
14,469
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for medical social workers
The hardest universities for medical social workers to get into are Boston College, Boston University, and University of Pennsylvania.
Some great schools for medical social workers are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for medical social workers based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.
1. Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA • Private
Admissions rate
28%
SAT average
1,429
2. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
Admissions rate
22%
SAT average
1,420
3. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
4. Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH • Private
Admissions rate
29%
SAT average
1,443
5. New York University
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
20%
SAT average
1,419
6. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
13%
SAT average
1,445
7. Fordham University
Bronx, NY • Private
Admissions rate
46%
SAT average
1,354
8. Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY • Private
Admissions rate
50%
SAT average
1,284
9. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
Admissions rate
23%
SAT average
1,398
10. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,508
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for medical social workers
The easiest schools for medical social workers to get into are Nyack College, kean university, and notre dame de namur university.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a medical social worker without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for medical social workers.
1. Nyack College
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
98%
SAT average
999
2. Kean University
Union, NJ • Private
Admissions rate
86%
SAT average
991
3. Notre Dame de Namur University
Belmont, CA • Private
Admissions rate
82%
SAT average
983
4. Fresno Pacific University
Fresno, CA • Private
Admissions rate
85%
SAT average
1,053
5. College of New Rochelle, The
New Rochelle, NY • Private
Admissions rate
83%
SAT average
982
6. Texas Woman's University
Denton, TX • Private
Admissions rate
87%
SAT average
1,059
7. San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA • Private
Admissions rate
72%
SAT average
1,054
8. Washington Adventist Hospital
Takoma Park, MD • Private
Admissions rate
52%
SAT average
958
9. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,031
10. Iona College
New Rochelle, NY • Private
Admissions rate
88%
SAT average
1,089
Average medical social worker salary by education level
| Medical social worker education level | Medical social worker salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $65,848 |
| High School Diploma or Less | $48,436 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $58,897 |
| Some College/ Associate Degree | $56,144 |
Medical social worker education FAQs
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025