Non-MSW PhD students - anyone do a MSW during PhD?

[embe87]

So I hear that some non-MSW Social Work PhD students take an extra year to do the MSW. Has anyone here done this? Do you outright reject this idea? if so, how come? Would love to get perspectives on this!

 

[pippapants]

If you intend to enter social work academia and you live in the US, then YES, get the MSW.  It will add a year or two, but it will open many more doors than not having the MSW.  I don't think I've seen any CSWE-accredited social work faculty positions advertised that DON'T require the MSW.  It's pretty much essential if you want to be hired in a school of social work in the US.

If you want to enter academia and get a social work job, look here to see what employers are looking for.  http://careers.cswe.org/home/home.cfm?site_id=392

 

[Val006]

There are some schools that will do joint MSW/PhD programs although from what I understand this is a lot more competitive and lots of the Universities are looking for advanced research experience to show that you are doctoral ready.  I was speaking with one of the students who is doing a joint program, her biggest critique was that it is very demanding workload wise and she felt that she did not have the time to obtain practice experience leading up to the doctoral work.  Depending on your trajectory and overall goals, would probably depict if this would be the best route for you or not.  

Good luck.

[TheCrow]

Most schools will want you to have an MSW and 2-3 years of post-MSW, plus a PhD in social work or a related field. Others that are more open to hiring those without MSWs (mostly just Columbia and UChicago) seem to hire people from traditional social science disciplines (e.g., sociology, political science) over those with a PhD in social work but no master's.