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INTERNSHIP PROGRAM The MSW concentration internship at the VA St. Louis Health Care System is accredited by the Council on Higher Education and the U.S. Department of Education. To be

considered, Health Profession Trainees (HPT’s i.e. interns)  must demonstrate enrollment in an MSW program from an accredited school by the Council on Social Work Education and in their

concentration practicum.  We have two cohorts that we offer at the St Louis VA. Our first cohort will run from August through May and typically consists of 20 hours/week.  Our second cohort

will begin in January and will run through May-July depending on your school’s schedule.   Available tours (schedules) will be determined by Field Placement and Field Instructor and the

schedule depends on the program to which the intern is assigned. Weekend, virtual, or evening hours are not available currently.  HPT assignment to field placements are made by the VA staff

and based on available Field Instructors for that academic year.  We make efforts to match HPTs with placements they have expressed interest in, however it is not guaranteed.   Treatment

settings and programs that are available for internships vary from year to year. Some potential offerings are inpatient and outpatient internships in both medical and mental health some in

hospitals and others in community clinics. Our medical internships span acute care, primary care, nephrology, inpatient and outpatient hospice/palliative care, and our skilled rehabilitation

program. Mental health internship options include acute inpatient, substance use, domiciliary treatment of substance use and homelessness, mental health therapy, and case management in our

general outpatient and trauma recovery programs, suicide prevention, and homeless programs. We also have the possibility of community and prison outreach internships.  Those selected to

intern with VA Social Work Service will need to complete several onboarding screenings/requirements, a few of which are: additional agency documents, providing fingerprints to allow the VA

to conduct background checks, a physical, and obtaining VA computer clearance and agency identification. This list is not all-inclusive, and several of these and other steps must be met in

prescribed sequential order. This necessitates that the prospective intern will have some availability to come to the VA for several hours on more than one appointment day.