The School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work has a number of field work courses which are offered as part of the Bachelor of Social Work (Honours), Master of Counselling, and Master of Social Work Studies.

The School's Social Work Practice Education Team is responsible for organising and matching students with practical placements. The Team strives to provide the necessary balance between support and challenge in order to maximise a student’s learning opportunities whilst on field placement. The Social Work Practice Education Team is available for the duration of a student’s program for consultation and assistance regarding placement and practice education issues.

Placement experience - Rachael Roberts

I feel very fortunate to have been allocated to the Mater Hospital Brisbane for an 18-week placement, where I gained valuable experience to support my journey in becoming a professional in the field. The placement was well structured with a variety of opportunities for experiential learning, weekly education sessions and regular supervision that all helped support my developing practice knowledge and skills.

Throughout my placement, I was predominantly based in the adult’s hospital with half of my time spent in a general medical ward and the other half in the emergency department.

I was also lucky enough to spend a day per week working in the Health Advocacy Law Clinic. This clinic is run by a community based legal service and is unique in the way that it brings together students from a variety of disciplines including Law, Social Work, Nursing & Medical students to help provide legal support and advice to patients and families at the hospital.

Through my experiences on placement I have gained a deeper understanding about the role of Social Work in a health setting and learnt a lot about working within a multi-disciplinary team, particularly noticing the value that Social Work can add to such a team environment.

I am extremely grateful to the wonderful Social Work department at the Mater who were so welcoming and particularly to my supervisors who supported and encouraged me through the challenges, helping me to link theory with practice and gain new insights to inform my own practice framework. I have come away from this placement experience feeling inspired about working in a health focused area and confident that Social Work is a good fit for me. I am curious and exited to find out where this role will take me in the future.