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Other social welfare specialist professionals

How to become a Medical Social Worker

Also called: MSW, Psychiatric social worker, Mental health social worker, Hospital caseworker

Advises patients and families in hospitals and other health services and, from a social welfare standpoint, helps them solve financial, emotional and social problems and return to everyday life.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say university is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

To become a medical social worker you usually gain the certified social worker or certified psychiatric social worker qualification. To qualify you study health and social welfare at a university, postgraduate school, tanki daigaku (junior college), senmon gakko (vocational college) or similar, complete the required subjects and pass a national exam. To work in the advice sections of national or local government, you also need to pass a civil service exam. After starting work you are expected to keep improving your skills and knowledge, for example by attending training run by professional associations. Cases where a medical social worker's help is needed often fall between the gaps of different schemes, or involve emotional, social and financial problems that are tangled together. So you need to grasp the situation correctly and judge problems soundly, and to understand the social security system well enough to read government notices and directives. You also need the commitment and compassion to understand the position of people facing hardship.

Ways in

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Medical Social Worker?

To become a medical social worker you usually gain the certified social worker or certified psychiatric social worker qualification. To qualify you study health and social welfare at a university, postgraduate school, tanki daigaku (junior college), senmon gakko (vocational college) or similar, complete the required subjects and pass a national exam. To work in the advice sections of national or local government, you also need to pass a civil service exam. After starting work you are expected to keep improving your skills and knowledge, for example by attending training run by professional associations. Cases where a medical social worker's help is needed often fall between the gaps of different schemes, or involve emotional, social and financial problems that are tangled together. So you need to grasp the situation correctly and judge problems soundly, and to understand the social security system well enough to read government notices and directives. You also need the commitment and compassion to understand the position of people facing hardship.

How much does a Medical Social Worker earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥4,416,600 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Other social welfare specialist professionals, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Medical Social Worker?

Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 42% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: Social Work & Community degrees; Vocational college (専門学校) course: Social welfare.

Will AI change the work of a Medical Social Worker?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026