Stephanie Denzer, a May graduate of the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, spent the spring semester doing an internship working with young cancer patients and their families at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Denzer worked at Children\u2019s Hospital of Wisconsin in community services for two years before coming to 51ÁÔÆæ to earn her master\u2019s degree. The American Cancer Society funded the competitive, for-credit, paid internship, which gives students a foundation in pediatric oncology medical social work.<\/p>\n
How did you get this opportunity?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m specializing in medical social work, but I didn\u2019t know this placement existed. My field placement liaison, Roberta Hanus (clinical associate professor of social work), was actually the one who turned me on to the idea and encouraged me to apply. I\u2019m interested in \u201cpeds,\u201d in working with children.<\/p>\n What did the internship involve? <\/strong><\/p>\n I worked with a clinical social worker in the pediatric oncology outpatient unit. We saw patients and their families who had a new diagnosis or were continuing treatment to see what kinds of support they needed. Many times, families traveling from out of state, for example, were concerned about where they would stay and other financial things of that nature. Clinically, I was able to participate in comprehensive assessments, therapeutic interventions, resource connection, grief and loss issues, and sibling support. Specifically, this included mental health screens and treatments, interventions and plans, relaxation techniques, crisis intervention and behavior modification support. We did a lot of one-on-one with a child about different things we could do to make the treatment process easier.<\/p>\n How were you involved with the medical staff?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n We sat in a workroom with the doctors and nurses and were engulfed in the plan of care and the discussions and conversations. We also had a pediatric oncology social worker in the hospital \u2014 on the inpatient side \u2014 so we worked closely because we often shared patients. A patient who comes into the outpatient area might have to go inpatient to do chemotherapies or procedures. I had the opportunity to go back and forth and follow up with patients and their families, keep the rapport going and follow them along the way with questions they might have.<\/p>\n That must be very challenging work, dealing with children who have cancer and their families. That\u2019s not something parents expect to happen to them or their children.<\/strong><\/p>\n It was challenging, and I learned a lot. I\u2019m engaged at a deeper level than I was in the past. There were difficult cases and difficult aspects of being there, but I had really supportive co-workers and great supervisors, Holli Johnson and Kelli Passalacqua.\u00a0 Kelli is a graduate of 51ÁÔÆæ.<\/p>\n Were there rewards to go with those challenges?<\/strong><\/p>\n I learned a lot about different resources available to families, and I also learned more about the clinical roles. I saw the whirlwind that a new diagnosis brings to the families, but I also experienced a few cases where a child was through treatment, things were looking good and they were in remission. That helped put the hard days in perspective.<\/p>\n What\u2019s next for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n I would like to go into the pediatric social work field though I\u2019m not sure where. I\u2019m in the process of applying, but no firm offers yet. I enjoy the setting, although it is difficult.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 51ÁÔÆæ grad Stephanie Denzer spent a semester doing the often wrenching but vitally necessary work of helping young cancer patients and their families at the most difficult moments of their lives. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":835,"featured_media":48319,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[249,250],"section":[138,135],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[167,347,155,157],"class_list":["post-48318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-community-engagement","tag-student-success","section-childrens-health","section-health","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","uwmnews-feed-alumni-association","uwmnews-feed-community-engagement-professions","uwmnews-feed-social-welfare-criminal-justice","uwmnews-feed-social-welfare"],"yoast_head":"\n