Professional Licensing and Exam Preparation

1.    I learned that to successfully passed the Clinical exam or the Advanced Generalist exam (for the Macro designation), both given by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB). A passing score is 75% ,which I received a 73% on the practice exam, so I have some studying to do.

2.    In addition the WSU/SSW  – Office of Continuing Education & Professional Development typically offers a 1 day licensing preparation workshop in the fall and spring.  Approx. fee is $125.00 includes material

3.    The application process is very lengthy to fill out and it takes about 6-8 weeks for processing which I found to be  long  time.

4.    LIMITED MASTER’S SOCIAL WORK LICENSES ARE VALID FOR ONE YEAR AND CAN BE

RENEWED FOR NOT MORE THAN SIX (6) YEARS. Im not sure what this means what happens after the 6th year?

I think all the information learned is useful for future social workers because we have to abide by the requirements before obtaining a lincense.  

I chose the following site below because I think they were informational to talk about the requirements and some questions that could possibly be on the clinical exam.

http://www.socialworklicensure.org/state/social-work-licensure-michigan.html
talks about requirements for michigan social Workers.

http://www.simmons.edu/ssw/docs/LIC_Practice_Questions.pdf
 is a practice test and gives you answers on what could be on the exam.

 




    

I do not think I really encountered an A-ha moment ,but I think that I had a sense of "why is this my first online class?" I really enjoyed taking this class online. It was convenient, insightful, and I enjoyed reading the material assigned. At first I thought reading all this material would be difficult for me, but the books were beneficial and important for my career path. I loved reading The Giver because it allowed me to look at a different culture and society and how i would respond as a social worker .I want to continue reading the following books from Lois Lowry , i think there are two others following The Giver. In addition, I heard they are making The Giver into a movie that will be out next year. It will star Katie Holmes, Meryl Streep and Jeff bridges as the giver. One of the most shocking things I have learned was about was the statistics on older adults. As social workers, we need to be more aware and knowledgeable about certain issues that older adults face.  

In the last section of the book ,we see the growing relationship that has formed  between Robyn and Ptolemy. We get to see a more deep relationship that Ptolemy has for  his new friend Shirley too. He gets to revisit his childhood memories and past loves with the new treatment. In addition, he gets to ultimately find the truth about his nephew Reggie death, and can come to in a sense of " peace "before he passes away.


Ptolemy has experiences many forms of mistreatment.  Elder mistreatment,  which are actions perpetrated by a trusted other, intended or not, that risk harm to a vulnerable older adult (Phillips, et al., 2010, p. 79). Elder Abuse is a term that was apparent because people might take advantage of him because of his mental state. Hilly was one individual that stole his money and admitted that he thought Ptolemy would not notice. At the beginning of the book, we assume that maybe Ptolemy did miscount his money because of his mind. Later in the book, Hilly confirms that he did take advantage of Ptolemy’s vulnerability. (Phillips, Ajrouch & Hillcoat-Nalletamby, 2010, p 83). We get a sense of how Ptolemy acted in his environment before Robyn came was in the picture. When Robyn became a new family member presented in Ptolemy’s life this was a test to his overall environmental gerontology. It was presented that

Religion and spiritualty is expressed as multidimensional concepts that reference connections to a higher power Phillips, Ajrouch & Hillcoat-Nalletamby, 2010, p 181). Spirituality and religion play an important role during the end of an individual’s life. Ptolemy is always discussing The Devil or God in many ways.  Religion and spirituality is mentioned frequently in the book and the readers can depict that Ptolemy has a strong feels towards his doctor. He expressed that the doctor is the devil giving him devil injections with the mention of fire that is comparable to a fever. The last shot of the devils medicine. He also says that the  fire had been loaned by Satan .and errant angel undo coveted men’s souls”  (p. 216). Ptolemy explains that since he is seeking treatment he has sold his soul to the Devil.

Social Relations- is defined as social integration processes and mechanisms with distinct , multidimensional aspects, including networks, support types and exchanges , and support quality.  (Phillips, Ajrouch & Hillcoat-Nalletamby, 2010, p. 195) It seems that the only support system that Ptolemy had was with Reggie. After Reggie’s death, many family members become more supportive in managing Ptolemy’s health and home environment. He does encounter some unpleasant individuals along the way, but he gets to develop a deep relationship with Robyn and Shirley.  Ptolemy admits his love for Shirley because she was the only person, besides Robyn, that would help him remember and love him before the money and medicine. Without Robyn in Ptolemy’s life, I doubt that he would ever be resisting to treatment.

Palliative care is a term that means care that is provided at the end of life. This type of care involves attention to and control of the symptoms that causes the individual pain. (Phillips, Ajrouch & Hillcoat-Nalletamby, 2010, p. 161) Palliative care was a term that was not yet discussed but I believe that towards the end of Ptolemy’s life he received this time of care. When he was treated for his dementia, the doctors discussed that his disease cannot be cure but the overall quality of life can be improved by maintaining the symptoms that come with dementia. He had a nurse coming to the house to give him injections for his dementia. Ptolemy’s memory does come back towards the end of his time and he has a time to remember all the people in his life that brought him to where he is. Ptolemy describes how he thinks that watching TV was closes thing to revisiting his previous state of dementia. I think this was the first time the author actually stated that Ptolemy has a debilitating illness not just “old age”.