Guest Post – What it means to be a dual degree professional by Ashley Bowman (Dec ’16)

Ashley Bowman (Dec '16)

A dual degree professional is a growing commodity in the job market.  Becoming a dual degree professional means that the person has a large amount of knowledge in more than one professional area using the different competencies, theoretical perspectives and skills in an ongoing process of “Becoming” as a professional in your chosen career path (Scanlon 2011). In my current path, I have chosen to take a class titled Inter-professional Identity to help me better understand what it means for me to have two degrees and how I might use them to benefit me in the best possible way. We do not have a book in this class because there is very little research and information regarding my chosen fields of social work and public health working together. In fact, there is little research on inter-professional identity at all, but I have pulled out some articles which we have been reading to help explain what a dual degree professional is.  I have chosen a few articles to help me give a better understanding of the definition of a dual degree profession and the challenges they face with multiple professional identities.

            The first article I will discuss refers to inter-professional competencies and what basic principles they should include.  According to the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Panel, basic principles that any inter-professional competencies should include are, patient/family centered [or ‘patient-centered’]; community/population oriented; relationship focused; process oriented; linked to learning activities, educational strategies, and behavioral assessments that are developmentally appropriate for the learner; able to be integrated across the learning continuum; sensitive to the systems context/applicable across practice settings; applicable across professions; stated in language common and meaningful across the professions; and outcome driven” (IPEC, 2011, pg.8).  The IPEC competencies mostly focus on inter-professionalism within the health care system, but I think all of these aspects are important in most professions.  These competencies definitely are visible in both fields of public health and social work.  Each of these disciplines are very much centered in the patient and the community with all of the work they do with interventions and therapy for individuals and the community.

            The next article I wanted to mention discusses public health and social work as complementing each other as partners.  Van Pelt’s (2009) article discusses the histories of public health and social work and how they started with the same goals of improving the health in the communities that were experiencing disease and poverty.  There is a quote in this article that explains the partnership perfectly and what we can do with this dual degree.  “A joint degree provides students with the ability to fuse two different perspectives and contextualize social work in the broader public health sphere” (Van Pelt, 2009, pg. 1).  This quote explains that we have the ability to use both degrees to come up with a unique solution because we have the perspective of both professions.

            I mentioned both of these articles because they were the ones that helped me understand what my dual degree meant to me.  These articles tied together everything that I have been subconsciously learning, and will continue to learn, as I am always evolving into the person I will become.  In the following paragraphs I will share how I have experienced this dual degree professionalism in academics, in my personal life, and in my professional life. 

            Academically speaking, being a dual degree professional has drastically expanded my understanding of the bigger picture of things in health as well as social work issues.  I have found that my education on the graduate level as a dual degree student has been very difficult and challenging, but it has definitely made me stronger in my learning abilities.  Learning in two different fields of study has forced me to realize that one profession is not the only one that you should understand.  Whether you are a dual degree professional or not, you will have to work with other professionals in one way or another, and being in this program has opened my eyes to how I can learn to better understand other professions which will in turn make my chosen career environment an easier place to collaborate with my coworkers even if we have different professional perspectives.  Another thing that has been difficult for me to get used to when discussing academics is the differences in class material as well as classroom fluency.  The classroom material is very different from each other, but as I am learning I can still put together how each subject can complement the other.  The public health classes are very knowledge-based and include tests and exams.  The social work classes focus on writing papers to really understand our topic as well as improve our writing skills.

            On a personal level, I have found that I have grown as a person.  This program has expanded my mind in a way that a year ago I would have never expected.  I obtained my Bachelor’s in Social Work at Georgia Regent’s University, and I thought that I knew everything I could learn about social work from the my undergraduate classes.  I was very wrong in assuming this.  I was accepted into the University of Georgia a few short months later, and I couldn’t have made a better decision for my life than to continue my education.  I was able to complete my classwork with more background than my classmates due to the prior exposure to the field of social work.  However, I was shocked at how much I was still able to learn, and then I was introduced to the opportunity for the dual degree program of social work and public health.  I jumped at the opportunity to expand my knowledge even more, and I felt that the knowledge I would gain would help me make a difference in the mental health population which I am extremely passionate about. When I started this program, I had no idea how much it would change how I see the world.  It has really shown me that in order to make a big difference in the world or even just a community, you need to be open to listening to that community, and include them in the intervention that you create with them.  I have learned that you can’t change people’s behaviors by just telling them what to do, you have to show them why it is important for them and those around them.  I see the changes in my personal life the most when I am talking with my family.  It is hard to explain what exactly has changed, but I know that a change has occurred because my family and friends’ views of me have started to change.  They respect me more and come to me for advice about personal problems more than they ever have before.  They see my success and want to strive in their lives to become their better selves just like I have been trying to do.

            In my professional life, I have also seen a great improvement.  Although I am not currently employed, I do see that I have improved in my professionalism especially related to inter-professionalism.  The most valuable thing I’m receiving from this dual degree program are the transferable skills in both the fields of social work and in public health.  Identifying the skills that I am obtaining in this program also helps me realize the broad career options that I will be qualified for based on the skills I have gained and will continue to gain throughout my time in this program. I have realized that my ideal career will more than likely change as I go through my life, and that is normal and will help me with the experiences I will gain throughout my life.  I have learned to expect people to see me as a knowledgeable person, and that people will see me as both a formal and informal leader.  I will have a better understanding of how to collaborate with other professionals, and how to coordinate a successful inter-professional meeting or project.  I am prepared to take on this role and be an example not only for my coworkers in the future, but also for any dual degree professionals who will follow me.

            I would recommend a dual degree to anyone who is willing to put in a little bit of extra work.  It will enhance your life in more ways than you will ever be able to comprehend.  A dual degree means more opportunities, more knowledge, and a better understanding on how to solve problems.  This is something that is definitely worth the little bit of extra work for a long term enhancement of your career.

Learn more about Ashley Bowman.

References

Interprofessional Education Collaborative Panel (IPEC). (2011). Core competencies for Interprofessional collaborative practice: Report of an expert panel. Washington, D.C.: Interprofessional Education Collaborative. Retrieved from:  http://www.aacn.nche.edu/education-resources/ipecreport.pdf 

Scanlon, L. (2011). Becoming a Professional: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Professional Learning. New York, NY: Springer.

Van Pelt, J. (2009). Social Work and Public Health – Perfect partners. Social Work Today, 9(1), p. 28.