What is Medical social work?

Psychological, social, economical, and family problems occur to patients and their family. At this time, medical social workers try to solve the problem through individual counseling, group counseling (communication training, family therapy), and connection to community resources. This special process is called ??edical social work

What do medical social workers do?

psychosocial counseling

When the patient gives up a treatment or becomes to have poor motivation due to psychological and social conditions, psychosocial counseling is needed. For example, psychosocial counseling deals with psychological pain relief from disabilities and chronic diseases, and maladjustment such as a denial of treatment and surgery.

family counseling

Counseling for family suffered from a family conflict during the first stage and treatment of a disease

financial advice

Counseling to support medical expenses to patients who cannot afford to pay after evaluation of financial conditions.
For example, national support projects (emergency assistance, cancer support project, rare disease support program) and external support agencies (Request of Love, social welfare community chest, etc.)

discharge counseling

Life plan after discharge from the hospital, dissolution of psychological anxiety, information for social adjustment, the absence of residence, etc.

rehabilitation counseling

vocational rehabilitation and education of the disabled, social functioning and adaptation of the disabled, disability registration process and benefits, medical security information, industrial disaster and automobile insurance

local community resource connection counseling

Unmarried mother counseling and adoption agency information, connection to volunteers, vocational training and facilities, information of payment sponsors

other counseling

group counseling, purity evaluation of organ transplant

Consultation and reference/Related sites

• The Jeonbuk National University Hospital, public health assistance office, social welfare department (Tel. 250-1524)
• Ministry of Health and Welfare(www.mohw.go.kr)
• Social welfare chest(www.chest.or.kr)
• New life support center(www.kids119.or.kr)
• Save the Children(www.sc.or.kr)
• Beautiful fund(www.beautifulfund.org)
• Child fund(www.childfund.or.kr)
• The Korea heart foundation(www.heart.or.kr)
• Korea Childhood Leukemia Foundation(www.kclf.org)
• The Blood Cancer Association of Korea(www.bloodcancer.or.kr)
• Korea breast cancer foundation(www.kbcf.or.kr)
• Jeonju public health center(health.jeonju.go.kr)

Medical Business practices

• object : undergraduates and graduate students determined to participate in clinical training in the hospital with major in Social Welfare
• training period : Only during vacation (4 weeks for undergraduates and 5 weeks for graduate students)

Medical Business training

Opportunities for undergraduates and graduates with major in Social Welfare to learn professional medical business like as medical social worker in the hospital

Training outline

• Theory : more than 40 hours over the whole medical social work
• Clinical training : more than 1,900 hours total in payment support, pediatrics, rehabilitation medicine, organ transplant, etc
• Clinical training contents
  • 1. more than 40 cases of social work assessment
  • 2. more than 40 cases of social work intervention
  • 3. program development and more than one case of clinical research
• Academic activity : participation in related conferences such as association of medical social workers, or related workshops, more than 20 points a year

Trainee recruitment

• application period: once a year (every Nov.~ Dec.)
• application method: recommendation from departments related to social welfare
• selection: the bylaw of the hospital