How to become a medical social worker
Official title: Medical social worker
Also called: Healthcare social worker, Hospital social worker, Mental welfare worker, Palliative care social worker, Psychiatric social worker, Hospital social worker, Palliative care social worker
Medical social worker provides individuals, families and care-givers with the psychosocial support they need to cope with chronic, acute or terminal illnesses. He/she provides patients with information and counselling, and makes referrals for other services. He/she may also provide case and care management or interventions designed to promote health, prevent disease and address barriers to access to healthcare.
Main tasks
- Interviewing clients individually, in families, or in groups, to assess their situation and problems and determine the types of services required
- Analysing clients’ situation and presenting alternative approaches to resolving problems
- Planning and implementing programmes of assistance for clients including crisis intervention and referral to agencies that provide financial assistance, legal aid, housing, medical treatment and other services
- Investigating cases of abuse or neglect and taking action to protect children and other at risk persons
- Acting as advocates for client groups in the community and lobbying for solutions to problems affecting them
Ways in
- University: Social Work & Community degrees, Offered by 1 universities in Singapore
- University: Medicine & Dentistry degrees, Offered by 2 universities in Singapore
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: $58,980 a year. The middle half earn $50,436 to $78,156 a year.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Related jobs
- Social worker (general)
- Youth work professional
- Clinical psychologist
- Educational psychologist
- Industrial/Organisational psychologist
- Counsellor (rehabilitation)
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Questions people ask
How do I become a medical social worker?
Ways in include: Social Work & Community degrees; Medicine & Dentistry degrees.
How much does a medical social worker earn in Singapore?
Median full-time pay is $58,980 a year (Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg)). The middle half earn $50,436 to $78,156.
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
- Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg): Resident Occupational Wages (Occupational Wage Survey) (June 2024 (data.gov.sg update 2026-04-01)), Singapore Open Data Licence v1.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026