Social work internship

A formal hospital-based internship program for mature social work students.

MSW student internship at Providence Health Care

We are proud of the reputation of Providence Health Care in providing excellent patient and family care. The objective of the Social Work Internship Program is to provide diversified training opportunities and ensure a high standard of Social Work practice in health care through a consistent approach in field education, practice and clinical supervision.

The MSW internship program establishes a formal hospital based internship program for mature social work students. The internship program works closely with the UBC School of Social Work and other accredited university MSW programs in order to enhance the practical experiences provided by the hospital with the theoretical framework provided in the course work. Rather than one block placement, the selected interns will move through 4 different rotations of working in a different unit, with an assigned field instructor to each rotation.

All social work interns will be expected to rotate through key areas of Acute Medicine, a Community Health, Urban Health/Mental Health and Long-Term Care. Interns will be assigned to various areas in the multiple sites across PHC subject to the available options each year.
In addition to the work related experiences, the social work interns learning experience will be enhanced with related, weekly, small group in-services and workshops to build on knowledge base associated with practice.

This internship runs 3 days per week from September to the end of March. Interns have the month of December off. Interns will be in the field 2 days per week, being the Monday and Tuesday. Hours of the placement are approximately 8:30 am– 16:30 pm depending on the assigned area. Additionally, students are required to attend small group seminars and group supervision for a half day on an additional weekday, which is selected in collaboration with UBC.
Interns will be expected to meet as a group on a weekly basis with the Clinical Supervisor to further develop skill base and best practice. Case presentations are expected to be discussed during the weekly group supervision. Additionally, the clinical supervisor will meet with individual interns on a bi-weekly basis to review and reflect individual practice and case studies. The Clinical Supervisor will be responsible to collaborate with the involved field instructors and complete the midterm and final evaluations for UBC.
Prospective UBC social work interns are to submit their resumes and letter of interest to the Field Placement Coordinator at UBC at 604 822 5302. Cover letters should be addressed to the Coordinator of the Internship Program, Jenny Hyman. UBC MSW Interviews are conducted by a panel, alongside the leads from other hospital settings. Prospective social work interns from other universities are encouraged to contact Jenny directly. Successful applicants will be notified prior to the end of July. The internship will be maintained at a small group in order to provide the required supervision necessary in an acute care setting.

For any questions regarding the PHC Social Work Student Internship, please contact Jenny Hyman at jhyman@providencehealth.bc.ca at 604-874-1141 ext. 78647.

Learn more about Social Work at Providence Health Care

Last reviewed: August 27, 2024