What it Means to be a Dual Professional- Guest Post by Kellye Call Morgan (Dec '21)

Kellye Call Morgan -
MSW/MPH Candidate (Dec '21)

When I first began my studies as a social work graduate student, the idea of applying for the Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health (MSW/MPH) dual degree program was brought to me a few times. I could not quite understand how the two fields worked together but trusted the professors’ suggestion and entered the program. Fortunately, it was soon obvious why these two degrees work so well together and how we can use this dual program to market our professional identities in academia and the workforce. 

Scanlon (2011) states that our professional identity is multidimensional, and the formation of our identity is dynamic. Professionals should always aim to continue learning as they move through their career and having a background in two fields will push dual professionals towards that goal. Those who hold MSW/MPH degrees can continuously work on two identities based on two different lived experiences and how they can be molded into one. Using dual degrees also furthers the idea of “crafting” your professional self to adjust behaviors in order to work well in different job environments (Scanlon, 2011). We have the unique ability to craft ourselves as dual professionals who can adapt to many different colleagues and clients. This will enable us to get along with an interdisciplinary team, a likely possibility for many of us heading into the medical or public health field. For example, we are able to use our social work education to adjust how we speak to a client or advocate for their needs, and we are able to use our public health background to advocate for policies in front of lawmakers or heads of organizations.

An interdisciplinary approach is the combination of ideas, theories, and methods from two or more disciplines or fields (Stokols et al., 2013). Based on this definition, dual-degree holders are uniquely positioned to work in interdisciplinary teams. However, we are also able to take a transdisciplinary approach in our work to help our teams reach innovative solutions that can change our fields. This means not only integrating different perspectives but using them to transcend the current concepts and research of all fields involved (Stokols et al., 2013). Dual degree professionals have an extensive background in blurring the lines between multiple fields. For example, when an MSW/MPH student is in a social work class, they can bring public health perspectives to help fellow students see how things are affected at a more macro or population level. When they are in a public health class, they can remind their classmates to consider the humans behind interventions and take individual-level attributes into account. This leads to more effective ideas and solutions, and makes dual degree professionals invaluable in their positions. Stokols et al. (2013) also mention that a transdisciplinary approach values an understanding among teams that every member’s background holds merit, and there is a responsibility for each team member to know everyone’s knowledge and skills. Dual degree team members have been taught the value of this in their schooling and can then help foster this approach among their professional team. 

I have already seen the value of having two degrees in real-world experiences. My field education for my generalist year in the social work program was at a hospice agency. Hospice agencies require working in interdisciplinary teams of doctors, nurses, certified nursing assistants, social workers, chaplains, volunteers, and administrators. Within this agency, I witnessed the challenges of working with those whose educational experiences were all vastly different from other members of the team. A public health social worker would have been useful at this agency in helping to promote understanding of everyone’s roles to create the best outcomes for patients, a concept that Ambrose-Miller & Ashcroft (2016) also touches on. For example, nurses are taught to be very patient-focused while social workers focus more on the entire family. Oftentimes, the nurse would intervene on behalf of the patient instead of listening to the social worker, throwing off the family dynamic that the social worker had been helping to keep balanced during a delicate time. Had trust and understanding of roles been developed, this may not have happened as often. Dual degree professionals are also trained to advocate for themselves and their unique perspectives. This is important to interdisciplinary teams so that all ideas can be incorporated into solutions and interventions. I have had experience with this in my specialization year internship, where I am working in more of a public health setting. I have been able to draw upon my unique education to advocate for clients and bring my team ideas that had not previously been considered. 

I have learned that being a dual professional means calling on different backgrounds, lived experiences, and theoretical frameworks to bring about transformative change in the areas in which we work. Receiving training in two different fields means we do not see divisions between other professions, and we can appreciate their perspectives, even when they differ from our own. Our work often lies, then, in helping others to see the value other professionals (and clients) can bring and advocating for our expertise to be heard, as well. As one of my classmates this semester mentioned, if you do not have a seat at the table, you are on the menu. Dual degree holders have the potential to hold two seats at the table and we must take that opportunity or risk two empty chairs. 

- Kellye Call Morgan, MSW/MPH candidate, expected graduation December 2021. 

Kellye is currently interning at the Center for Active Living at the Athens Community Council on Aging.

View Kellye's LinkedIn Profile here.

References

• Ambrose-Miller, W., & Ashcroft, R. (2016). Challenges Faced by Social Workers as Members of Interprofessional Collaborative Health Care Teams: Table 1: Health & Social Work, 41(2), 101–109. doi: 10.1093/hsw/hlw006
• Scanlon, L. (2011). ‘Becoming’ a Professional. In L. Scanlon (Eds.), Becoming a professional: An interdisciplinary analysis of professional learning (pp. 13-32). Springer, Dordrecht.
• Stokols, D., Hall, K. L., & Vogel, A. L. (2013). Transdisciplinary Public Health: Definitions, Core Characteristics, and Strategies for Success. In D. Haire-Joshu & T. McBride (Eds.), Transdisciplinary public health research, education, and practice (pp. 3-30). John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.