Medical social worker vs service counselor

The differences between medical social workers and service counselors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a medical social worker, becoming a service counselor takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a medical social worker has an average salary of $57,093, which is higher than the $35,402 average annual salary of a service counselor.

The top three skills for a medical social worker include social work, patients and home health. The most important skills for a service counselor are social work, crisis intervention, and patients.

Medical social worker vs service counselor overview

	Medical Social Worker	Service Counselor
Yearly salary	$57,093	$35,402
Hourly rate	$27.45	$17.02
Growth rate	9%	12%
Number of jobs	87,792	44,284
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age	45	43
Years of experience	2	12

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.

What does a service counselor do?

Service counselors provide guidance to couples, individuals, groups, and families who are going through issues that influence their well-being and mental health. They comprehensively approach their clients by utilizing a "wellness" model that focuses on and motivate the client's potentials. Their duties include inspiring clients to talk about their emotions and experiences, helping them determine their action plans and goals, as well as designing therapeutic methods. Also, they may refer their clients to other services or psychologists.

Medical social worker vs service counselor salary

Medical social workers and service counselors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Social Worker	Service Counselor
Average salary	$57,093	$35,402
Salary range	Between $42,000 And $77,000	Between $24,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Urban Honolulu, HI
Highest paying state	Alaska	Hawaii
Best paying company	Health Advocates	Google
Best paying industry	Health Care	Education

Differences between medical social worker and service counselor education

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

	Medical Social Worker	Service Counselor
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common major	Social Work	Psychology
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	SUNY at Binghamton

Medical social worker vs service counselor demographics

Here are the differences between medical social workers' and service counselors' demographics:

	Medical Social Worker	Service Counselor
Average age	45	43
Gender ratio	Male, 14.3% Female, 85.7%	Male, 33.3% Female, 66.7%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 19.7% Asian, 7.1% White, 54.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6%
LGBT Percentage	13%	11%

Differences between medical social worker and service counselor duties and responsibilities

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.

Service counselor example responsibilities.

Develop contracting strategy to build capacity and achieve ongoing compliance with Medicare and Medicaid provider network adequacy requirements.
Implement patient financial services department to assist patients and family members to ensure successful patient representation and expeditious benefit recovery.
Examine injured persons and administer first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, if necessary, using training and medical supplies and equipment.

Medical social worker vs service counselor skills

Common medical social worker skills

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

Common service counselor skills

Social Work, 16%
Crisis Intervention, 9%
Patients, 7%
Support Services, 6%
Social Services, 6%
Rehabilitation, 6%

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Medical Social Worker
Medical Social Worker vs Service Counselor

Updated January 8, 2025

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