MSW/MPH Degree in Emergency Response and Disaster Management

Overview

The MSW/MPH degree in Emergency Response and Disaster Management (ERDM) is offered jointly by the School of Social Work and the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Department of International Health and Development. The dual MSW/MPH in ERDM is designed for students whose career plans include responding to critical incidents such as community trauma, natural disasters, acts of violence towards populations, or other crises. The joint degree increases the student’s career options in both social work and public health by providing the individual with clinical-community social work skills and public health program skills. Graduates may seek employment in cross-cultural health/social service programs in the United States or in various international humanitarian agencies that respond to critical incidents.

Program Structure

A separate application must be submitted to each of the school and applicants must meet the requirements for admission to each school. The point of entry to this dual degree program is the School of Social Work in the first (Fall) semester. Students receive their MSW in the fourth (Fall) semester, and then continue full-time in the fifth (Spring) semester at the School of Public Health to finish the MPH requirements.

Credits and Course Planning

Students in the dual MSW/MPH program must complete 32 credit hours with the School of Public Health and 51 credit hours with the School of Social Work. The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) expects all Master of Social Work programs to require 60 hours for graduation with the MSW. Fifteen (15) of these 60 hours are completed in a social work field internship. The School of Social Work accepts public health courses for its six (6) hours of electives, and waives the summer data analysis course SOWK 743 (3 credit hours). Dual degree students are required by the School of Public Health to take Epidemiology 603 and Biostatistics 603 to fulfill the data analysis requirement for the School of Social Work. These courses are taken at the School of Public Health.

Students are encourages to take Crisis Intervention (third semester, 2 credit hours), and Treatment of Anxiety and Depression (fourth semester, 2 credit hours) at the School of Social Work as public health electives. MSW candidates must register for Dr. Michael Zakour’s section of Their 1 (SOWK 721, 3 credit hours) in their first semester. The social work field internship must be in a crisis setting throughout the program. Examples of such setting are the American Red Cross, hospital emergency rooms, mobile crisis units, acute care mental health clinics, or similar setting. The MSW Professional Project must address as research questions and/or service issues directly related to trauma, crisis intervention, emergency response or disaster management.

Last Update 02/17/2006