Kudos to Susan Hedlund, LCSW, OSW-C, who has been nominated and confirmed for the position of Vice-Chair of the Member Organization Steering Committee for the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. This is a one year term which began October 22, 2017.

Variation exits among transplant centers in the applied role of the blood and marrow transplant (BMT) clinical social worker and scope of practice. The National Marrow Donor Program’s Social Work Workforce Group represents master’s-prepared licensed BMT social workers across the U.S.

Kudos to AOSW members who are participating in the NMDP: Erica Bryan-Wegner, Chair; LICSW; Nancy J. Boyle, MSW, LCSW, OSW-C; Jennifer Blosser, ACSW, LCSW, C-SWHC; Jane Dabney, LISW-S, OSW-C; and Vinita Khanna, LCSW, BCD, ACHP-SW.

The group convenes monthly to develop strategies for transplant programs to fully integrate clinical social workers into their multidisciplinary BMT care team structure so patients and their families can receive optimal psychosocial care that can contribute to improved outcomes. The group has published the revised (2017) BMT Clinical Social Worker role description, which has been endorsed by AOSW, the Association of Pediatric Oncology Social Workers (APOSW), The American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMTTM) and the NMDP’s Be The Match. The role description can be used to educate health care professionals, BMT program staff, and social work department leaders about the specialty role of BMT clinical social workers.

To learn more, please reach out to AOSW colleagues who are participating in the BMT Social Work Workforce Group.