Upcoming Presentation at the Georgia Public Health Association Meeting

A group of MSW MPH students, along with Dr. Patricia Reeves and Dr. Salm Ward, will be presenting at the Georgia Public Health Association Meeting on Monday, March 10, 2014.  We hope we will see you there!

Dr. Patricia Reeves, Associate Professor, UGA School of Social Work, led the planning and development of the MSW MPH Program.  Dr. Trina Salm Ward, PhD, MSW, Assistant Professor, UGA School of Social Work and UGA College of Public Health, currently serves as Coordinator of the MSW MPH Program.  Co-presenting students include Kelly Ryder, Audry Motlagh, Mumbi Mwaura, and Hannah Demmitt, all of whom are in their second year as MSW MPH students. 

Presentation Abstract:
What knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values can a student dually educated and trained in Social Work and Public Health provide in the workplace?  The Directors of the MSW-MPH program at The University of Georgia (UGA)—the first (and only) dual degree program in Georgia—along with students enrolled in the program will describe the program and discuss how MSW-MPH graduates are uniquely equipped to address challenges in the field of public health, especially those related to persistent social problems.  According to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), “social workers help individuals, families, and groups restore or enhance their capacity for social functioning, and work to create societal conditions that support communities in need.”  An MSW-MPH degree:  (1) provides students with interdisciplinary education using social and epidemiological perspectives to better address critical social and public health issues; (2) combines the focus of social work intervention at the individual level with the public health focus of prevention at the population level; and, (3) underscores the shared social commitment of both disciplines to enhance well-being and ameliorate health problems.  The MSW-MPH program, in its third year at UGA, prepares students for a career that, according to U.S. News & World Report, “is expected to climb faster than most careers, or more than 22%.”  In this presentation, specific examples taken from the field practicum experiences of MSW-MPH students will be shared to demonstrate the “hand-in-glove” fit of Social Work and Public Health in workplace settings.