Revisioning Social Work Clinical Education: Recent Developments in Relation to Evidence-Based Practice

Abstract

An evidence-based practice (EBP) movement is underway in social work that promises to change the very nature and methods of clinical education and practice. Growing demands for accountability, increasingly sophisticated clients, heightened threats of malpractice liability, and a host of additional factors arising within and external to the profession have contributed to the growth of EBP. This review examines indices of the growing influence of EBP, reasons for the emergence of EBP, misgivings about and potentially positive features of EBP, and examines one school of social work's efforts to implement an evidence-based clinical practice curriculum. It is important that clinicians be aware of current developments in relation to evidence-based clinical education and practice as these will likely significantly shape the face of social work direct practice in the coming years.

KEYWORDS:

• Clinical education
• decision-making
• evidence-based practice
• social work education

Notes

At the time this article was written, Michael Vaughn was affiliated with the GeorgeWarren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

This article is an adaptation of a presentation given in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in association with The University of Alabama Social Work Annual Colloquium Series.