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10 MSW students begin UNC’s first integrated healthcare internships

The UNC School of Social Work was recently awarded a $1.4 million federal grant to create UNC-PrimeCare, a program that will rigorously prepare MSW students to work with medical professionals in the assessment and treatment of children and young adults who have, or are at risk for, mental health or substance use disorders.

10 second-year concentration students were selected for the pilot project, now underway. Another 21 are expected to enroll in summer and fall 2015. The program aims to train 93 MSW students over the three-year grant period, increasing the School’s number of behavioral health graduates by threefold.

As an integrated healthcare trainee, each intern will:

  • Receive a $10,000 stipend as an incentive to fully participate in this program and to pursue a career as a behavioral health specialist in an integrated health care setting;
  • Gain specialized knowledge and skills related to integrated behavioral health through attending required monthly field-seminars;
  • Participate, along with their field instructor and field placement team members, in workshops that will foster creativity and collaboration within integrated health care teams. These workshops will be led by experts in the field.

The 10 students and their field placements are:

  • Mitzi Gonzalez – Duke Pediatric Primary Care
  • Barbara Marotto and Ali Kliegman – Carolina Outreach
  • Jenna Holoman – UNC Center for Maternal and Infant Health
  • Michelle Stoisits – UNC Clinical Care Management – Pediatric Oncology
  • Sherise De Leon – Duke University – High Risk Obstetrics Clinic
  • Hallie Larson – UNC School of Medicine, Horizons Step-by-Step
  • Sarah Gray – CareNet of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
  • Vickie Whitley and Tomeko Moore – Family Services of the Piedmont

The first seminar will be held on Jan. 13. “The sister programs who received this grant at UNC-G and NCSU will join, too,” said Lisa Zerden, a clinical assistant professor and UNC-PrimeCare program director.

Related story: School receives $2.2 million in federal funding to prepare students for integrated healthcare