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The differences between social work interns and medical social workers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a social work internship, 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 $37,178 average annual salary of a social work internship.
The top three skills for a social work internship include patients, social work and intake assessments. The most important skills for a medical social worker are social work, patients, and home health.
| Social Work Internship | Medical Social Worker | |
| Yearly salary | $37,178 | $57,093 |
| Hourly rate | $17.87 | $27.45 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 142,426 | 87,792 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Master's Degree, 48% |
| Average age | 43 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 2 |
Social work interns are students who chose to do their on-the-job training in the field of social work. They apply for an internship at social services facilities. They are usually assigned to do administrative or clerical activities such as sorting through files, updating records, organizing documents, and filing reports. Aside from clerical tasks, they also get exposed to program or project management by working on program-specific initiatives. They get exposed to planning, resource managing, implementing, and evaluating. They may also join their supervisors during field activities.
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.
Social work interns and medical social workers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Social Work Internship | Medical Social Worker | |
| Average salary | $37,178 | $57,093 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $51,000 | Between $42,000 And $77,000 |
| Highest paying City | Fargo, ND | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Alaska |
| Best paying company | DTCC | Health Advocates |
| Best paying industry | Government | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a social work internship and a medical social worker in terms of educational background:
| Social Work Internship | Medical Social Worker | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Master's Degree, 48% |
| Most common major | Social Work | Social Work |
| Most common college | California State University - Fullerton | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between social work interns' and medical social workers' demographics:
| Social Work Internship | Medical Social Worker | |
| Average age | 43 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 18.3% Female, 81.7% | Male, 14.3% Female, 85.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.4% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% Asian, 7.3% White, 54.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.2% | 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 | 11% | 13% |