A clinical social worker who concentrates on medical and public health issues largely deals with the social aspects of our health. He or she is an advocate for patients and can explain health care resources and policies, assist in finding additional treatment and offer guidance for how to cope with various psychosocial issues that may arise. Not all health care is medical. There are also social aspects of medical problems, including how we prevent future medical problems, how we feel about a prognosis, how we judge the proper care we’ll need and how we cope with a stressful life change.

A clinical social worker’s day-to-day tasks could include ample research and mounds of paperwork, and they may diagnose and treat mental, behavioral and emotional disorders. Social workers undergo years of study, including an undergraduate program, advanced degree, a minimum two years of supervised experience and a licensing exam before they can administer care.

Feeling empathy for people is an important asset in this business. A social worker’s purview could include improving the well-being of sick minors, evaluating a middle-aged cancer patient’s progress during treatment or assisting a senior citizen seeking home health care. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 9.6% employment growth for clinical social workers between 2022 and 2032. In that period, an estimated 18,400 jobs should open up.

In addition to a bachelor’s degree, all clinical social workers need a master’s degree in social work. They also must meet state-specific requirements for additional coursework and supervised clinical experience. Requirements vary by state, but many states require at least two years of supervised clinical experience after graduation. Clinical social workers also must pass a licensing exam to practice.

Robert Booth, former executive director of the American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work (now the American Board of Clinical Social Work), encourages social workers to also study biology and chemistry. "You’ll be dealing with people who are using various kinds of drugs, both illegal recreational substances and then people who are on drug therapy, so having an awareness of chemistry is important," he says. "It’s also advisable to take a year or two of sociology to understand the systems of the culture."