‘Sensational’ learning opportunities prep Elisha for a change-making career
Second-year Master of Social Work student Elisha Duckett is well on her way to becoming a well-prepared professional social worker with the skills and experience to help people and make change.
She's already completed one supervised professional practice placement in the maternity service of a large public hospital, where she learned to help new mums grappling not just with the birth of their babies but also the extra hardships of financial stress, homelessness, family violence and drug and alcohol misuse on top.
Elisha said that her placement was a "sensational" learning experience, in which she received comprehensive support from her hospital social work supervisors and thorough preparation in the classroom before she even began. "I shadowed my supervisor for the first part and then gradually developed the confidence to take on a small caseload," she said. "I had regular check-ins with my Monash liaison contact along the way and learned so much by seeing social work in action out in the workforce, managing crisis situations, supporting people to make choices and grappling with the ethical challenges."
The simulations and experiential workshops conducted in class were crucial in helping Elisha prepare for placement. At Monash, social work students undertake objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) as part of their assessment requirements, in which paid actors play the role of clients and students act as social workers in simulated scenarios.
"As a class, we then critically review the student's performance and look at areas of learning and improvement together," Elisha said. "It's a safe and supportive way to try out practice skills, make plenty of mistakes and develop an excellent grounding in the social worker role. I felt confident that I'd learned the basics in the classroom before I even started my placement."
Elisha is also finding the Master of Social Work a great way to build new connections and friendships. The course is rich in interaction, discussion and self-reflection, with many students in the diverse student cohort bringing their own lived experiences of disadvantage to the group discussions.
"As someone who did my undergraduate liberal arts degree mostly online during the pandemic, I'm enjoying the on-campus experience a lot," she said. "I've made new friendships in class and built professional connections while out on placement. My lecturers and tutors have also shown a lot of care for our learning and development as students."
Overall, Elisha enjoys the broad and holistic nature of social work practice and the choices she'll soon have to work in diverse settings such as health, schools, government, counselling, child and family services and more. "Studying social work has given me such a bigger sense of the world and its complexity and challenges," she said. "Seeing people living out the social determinants of health, such as poverty, racism and discrimination, has been such an eye-opening experience. I've learned that everyone has struggles and that there's a lot that people don't have control over and can't change. I'm adopting the attitude that it's my job to help people through and out of these circumstances."
Join our upcoming webinars to learn more
If you’re interested in learning more about the course - join our upcoming webinars to hear from our social work teaching staff and current students.
Webinar 1
Date: 27 November 2024
Time: 6-7pm
Register here
Webinar 2
Date: 15 January 2025
Time: 6-7pm
Register here
Watch this video message from our Course Director, Dr Marcelo Maghidman.