Graduation day was a day of firsts for over two dozen Joint Army, Navy and Air Force students who completed the U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School Health Readiness Center of Excellence (AMEDDC&S HRCoE) Army-University of Kentucky Master of Social Work (MSW) Program last week at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston.
The Army-University of Kentucky MSW Program is a 14-month accelerated academic program conducted through the AMEDDC&S HRCoE. The academic phase of the MSW Program is followed by a 24-month post-graduate internship at nine different locations and allows graduates to meet independent practitioner licensing requirements for most states.
This was the first class to graduate under the University of Kentucky partnership and the twelfth since the program began in 2008 under a partnership with Fayetteville State University. The MSW program transitioned to the University of Kentucky in November 2016.
Colonel Nathan Keller, Director of the MSW Program, said of the new contract, "The U.S. Army's partnership with the University of Kentucky has been outstanding. UK has provided an excellent curriculum, unwavering support, and the flexibility to teach and evaluate military social work competencies, producing superb Social Work officers, well-qualified to provide clinical interventions to service members and their families."
In another first, the MSW Program graduated two U.S. Air Force students: Captain Chaola Harris and First Lieutenant Jeagan Luna. The Air Force approved students to attend the MSW program in 2017, just in time for this graduation class that began in February 2018.
Navy personnel have been authorized to attend the MSW Program since 2010. The program has graduated a total of 10 Navy students, to include U.S. Navy Ensign Jessica Fibelkorn who also graduated with this class.
"In today's military operating environment, joint operations are critical for mission success," said Keller. "Integrating Navy and Air Force students into the Army MSW Program enables social work officers the opportunity to learn firsthand the commonalities and differences across military systems. This experience enables the students to form professional relationships and foster an understanding of each other's culture better preparing them to work together in future operations."
This class was also the first to have an Outstanding MSW Student Award presented for earning the top grade point average. Dr. Kalea Benner, Interim Director of Graduate Studies, University of Kentucky College of Social Work, had the honor of recognizing Captain Wesley Jones as the first recipient of the award. During the ceremony, Jones was also recognized for his community work, leadership in the program and for earning the second highest score on the Army Physical Fitness Test.
The guest speaker, Lieutenant Colonel Teresa D. Murray, who was a graduate of the first MSW class in 2009, reminded the new class that it is ok if they don't know everything. Murray said, "Please give yourself permission to not know it all." She relayed how she felt a lot of pressure when she graduated with her degree to be able to help everyone she encountered and know everything there was to know about clinical social work. Murray continued, "Let me be one of the first to tell you that this is an impossible and unrealistic expectation. No one knows it all!"
Murray encouraged the class to look at this step in their social work journey as part of a process of lifelong learning and growth. "You will also encounter some amazing mentors, clinicians, support staff, behavioral health techs, and supervisors along the way who will help you to develop further. That's one of the best things about being a military social worker--you are never doing it alone," she said. Murray is currently earning her PhD in social work at the Catholic University of America, Washington D.C.
The HRCoE's Army-University of Kentucky MSW Program is fully accredited by the Council on Social Work, Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The MSW Program produces military social workers that are competent to provide advanced clinical social work practice to Soldiers, families, groups, organizations, and military communities. Graduates of this program are prepared to work in a broad spectrum of military specific environments: combat stress, hospitals, research, healthcare policy agencies, and a variety of non-traditional assignments that may require a social work officer.
To learn more about this and other HRCoE graduate or doctoral programs, visit https://www.cs.amedd.army.mil/acad_medbde.aspx#187.B.
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