Bryn Mawr College

Bridging the Gaps

MSS students participate in community health internships

Since 1999 the GSSWSR has participated in the “Bridging the Gaps” Community Health Internship Program (CHIP). The seven week program links the training of health and social service professionals with the provision of services to underserved communities. In addition to the field assignments, students meet weekly with their academic preceptors and participate in weekly training sessions where community members and health professionals help them build skills in working with diverse populations.

The five Philadelphia academic health centers: Drexel University, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Temple University, Thomas Jefferson University, and the University of Pennsylvania, are the collaborative partners whose students from the disciplines of medicine, nursing, dentistry, occupational health and social work are assigned to a diverse range of community sites. Bryn Mawr students participate with the Thomas Jefferson University group whose coordinator is Maria Hervada-Page, MSS.

Liz Wilson, BTG 2009

This summer I was lucky enough to participate in the Bridging the Gaps Internship program.  This was an amazing opportunity and learning experience.  Through my Bridging the Gaps experience, I not only gained useful work experience, but I also got to collaborate with professionals and students from a variety of backgrounds.  I was given the opportunity to learn about health care issues which, as a social work student, I do not always get to focus on and I was able to grow in a way that I know will make me a better social worker.
The Bridging the Gaps Internship Program (BTG) matches students from a variety of health care and social service fields with various nonprofits in the Philadelphia area.  Interns come from a variety of health related and social service fields, which allows students to share their unique viewpoints with their clients and with one another.  In addition to the work the interns do at their placement, the BTG program has weekly seminars on a variety of health related topics.  Interns also meet weekly in small groups to create a workshop for the Fall BTG Symposium.
I was paired with a nursing student from Jefferson College and we were placed at Mercy Hospice, which is a residential facility for women and children in center city Philadelphia.  Mercy Hospice serves women who do not have permanent housing and are in substance abuse recovery. Last year, Mercy Hospice served 65 women and 17 children, and provided a wide array of social services including the provision of food and shelter, case management, parenting education, and life skills classes. In addition to these services, Mercy provides daily services to local women without homes or women living in nearby shelters.
When we arrived at Mercy we were told that the organization would like us to focus on planning and facilitating as many activities as possible with the residents.  The nursing student with whom I was partnered and I structured a summer program that focused on healthy living.  We wanted to not only support the work that the women were doing in their recovery process, but also teach them how to have fun in a healthy way.  We conducted weekly groups that focused on job readiness, healthy diets, recovery, and health education.  We incorporated physical activity into our program by offering weekly walking and yoga groups.  We wanted to help the women have fun in a way that supported their recovery so we also conducted manicure days, spa nights, movie nights, and various field trips.
The Bridging the Gaps program was an amazing learning opportunity.  Because of the flexibility of our program, I really got to know the women who I served.  On a daily basis I was blown away by how open the women were about their struggles and how graciously they shared their wisdom with me.  Through my internship, I learned more about substance abuse and recovery than I could have ever learned in a classroom.  Being partnered with a nursing student, and getting to collaborate with students from so many different backgrounds during our weekly seminars, was also an amazing learning opportunity.  Through my work experience thus far I have seen how useful it can be to join forces with professionals from other disciplines, and my Bridging the Gaps experience reinforced this.  As social workers, part of our job is to look at the whole person.  Being familiar with health and medical terms along with understanding how other professions/ systems work make us stronger social workers and allows us to serve our clients better.  The Bridging the Gaps program also allowed me to educate my peers, about the field of social work. 
As I reflect on my Bridging the Gaps experience, I know I will continue to learn and grow from it.  I not only learned useful facts and information, but this experience also gave me the chance to look at the people I serve from a fresh perspective.  I am extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to learn and grow both professionally and personally.  I can say, without a doubt, that Bridging the Gaps has made me a more well-rounded, competent social worker and I am looking forward to taking what I learned through this experience with me as I move forward in this field. 

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