Senior social worker vs medical social worker

The differences between senior social workers 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 senior social worker, 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 $55,254 average annual salary of a senior social worker.

The top three skills for a senior social worker include social work, patients and veterans. The most important skills for a medical social worker are social work, patients, and home health.

Senior social worker vs medical social worker overview

	Senior Social Worker	Medical Social Worker
Yearly salary	$55,254	$57,093
Hourly rate	$26.56	$27.45
Growth rate	9%	9%
Number of jobs	103,740	87,792
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 47%	Master's Degree, 48%
Average age	42	45
Years of experience	4	2

What does a senior social worker do?

A senior social worker is in charge of overseeing the support services conducted in a community or a particular area. Their responsibilities often revolve around coordinating different social workers, handling issues or concerns, managing schedules, and performing support tasks for other staff when necessary. They also perform welfare checks on families, provide referrals to other support agencies, conduct interviews and counseling, and identify any signs of abuse or neglect. Furthermore, as a senior social worker, it is essential to lead and mentor junior social workers, all while adhering to the agency's policies and regulations.

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.

Senior social worker vs medical social worker salary

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

	Senior Social Worker	Medical Social Worker
Average salary	$55,254	$57,093
Salary range	Between $40,000 And $75,000	Between $42,000 And $77,000
Highest paying City	Newark, NJ	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	Alaska
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Health Advocates
Best paying industry	Government	Health Care

Differences between senior social worker and medical social worker education

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

	Senior Social Worker	Medical Social Worker
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 47%	Master's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Social Work	Social Work
Most common college	Boston College	University of Pennsylvania

Senior social worker vs medical social worker demographics

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

	Senior Social Worker	Medical Social Worker
Average age	42	45
Gender ratio	Male, 23.1% Female, 76.9%	Male, 14.3% Female, 85.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 13.4% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 2.7% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5%	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	10%	13%

Differences between senior social worker and medical social worker duties and responsibilities

Senior social worker example responsibilities.

Collaborate with partners including public and private agencies to achieve permanency for children.
Refer customers to other community agencies such as clinics, employment services, and vocational rehabilitation services.
Facilitate family meetings to provide support and psycho-education to patients and their family members and to discuss discharge planning.
Supervise students in MSW programs and high school programs.
Supervise MSW staff and student-interns in adult alcohol/substance abuse program.
Collaborate with other hospital departments to streamline services for homeless veterans.

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.

Senior social worker vs medical social worker skills

Common senior social worker skills

Social Work, 41%
Patients, 11%
Veterans, 4%
Treatment Services, 3%
Patient Care, 3%
Rehabilitation, 3%

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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Senior Social Worker
Senior Social Worker vs Medical Social Worker

Updated January 8, 2025

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