 |
Internships and field experience for social work students
Internships give students hands-on experience in the field, enhancing what has been learned in class and providing networking opportunities for the future.
Every social work major at Northwestern begins with a total of 30 hours of volunteer work at three different agencies or organizations. Such experience gives students an overview of several types of social work, as well as of the clients and issues in each setting.
Social work internships, a required part of the program, generally take place in the senior year and involve 448 hours of field experience. Recent internships have included legislative work at the Nebraska chapter of the National Association of Social Workers in Lincoln, bilingual counseling in the infant intensive care unit at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and work at the Family Violence Center in Le Mars and Sioux City, Iowa.
The Chicago Semester provides a great opportunity for internships in an urban and often cross-cultural setting. Social work majors in this semester-long off-campus program have worked with Casa Central’s La Posada, a program that provides transitional housing for homeless families; with HIV clients at a Christian medical clinic; with teenagers at Lydia House, a residential treatment center; and with teenage mothers at New Moms Inc., a Christian organization that facilitates basic skills and independence.
Many social work majors also gain hands-on experience by participating in Northwestern’s Spring Service Project and Summer of Service ministry programs.
|
|
|
|
 Social work |
|
|
|
