Master of Social Work Intern Program

Internship Program

The MSW concentration internship at the VA St. Louis Health Care System is accredited by the Council on Higher Education and the U.S. Department of Education. To be considered, Health Profession Trainees (HPT’s i.e. interns)  must demonstrate enrollment in an MSW program from an accredited school by the Council on Social Work Education and in their concentration practicum. 

We have two cohorts that we offer at the St Louis VA. Our first cohort will run from August through May and typically consists of 20 hours/week.  Our second cohort will begin in January and will run through May-July depending on your school’s schedule.   Available tours (schedules) will be determined by Field Placement and Field Instructor and the schedule depends on the program to which the intern is assigned. Weekend, virtual, or evening hours are not available currently. 

HPT assignment to field placements are made by the VA staff and based on available Field Instructors for that academic year.  We make efforts to match HPTs with placements they have expressed interest in, however it is not guaranteed.   Treatment settings and programs that are available for internships vary from year to year. Some potential offerings are inpatient and outpatient internships in both medical and mental health some in hospitals and others in community clinics. Our medical internships span acute care, primary care, nephrology, inpatient and outpatient hospice/palliative care, and our skilled rehabilitation program. Mental health internship options include acute inpatient, substance use, domiciliary treatment of substance use and homelessness, mental health therapy, and case management in our general outpatient and trauma recovery programs, suicide prevention, and homeless programs. We also have the possibility of community and prison outreach internships. 

Those selected to intern with VA Social Work Service will need to complete several onboarding screenings/requirements, a few of which are: additional agency documents, providing fingerprints to allow the VA to conduct background checks, a physical, and obtaining VA computer clearance and agency identification. This list is not all-inclusive, and several of these and other steps must be met in prescribed sequential order. This necessitates that the prospective intern will have some availability to come to the VA for several hours on more than one appointment day.

Application Process

Eligibility Requirements

Read Requirements-  https://www.va.gov/oaa/hpt-eligibility.asp

The application period for academic year 2025-2026

Students may submit the application materials by e-mail to the internship site director, Jessie Holdinghaus, LCSW at  jessica.holdinghaus@va.gov. The VA Social Work office can be reached at 314-906-7467.

Applications will be accepted only during the application periods. The required application documents include: 

• program application
  • Including KSA’s (Knowledge Skills and Abilities)
• college transcript(s)
• graduate school or professional writing sample [not to exceed 1-2 pages]
• a letter of evaluation from a School of Social Work graduate school professor.

Application materials will be reviewed, and applicants will be contacted within a week of the closure of the application window to be informed if they have been selected for an interview. Those applicants selected for consideration will have an initial interview – this interview is a performance based interview.  Following this interview, selected HPTs will have a secondary, less formal, interview with their proposed field instructor to assure that the internship will be a mutually good fit.  If both parties agree they can accept the internship at that time.  

At this point we will turn the onboarding process over to HR or our Office of Academic Affiliation and they will work with each HPT to complete the required onboarding steps.  Applicants must submit all required materials and documents and meet the necessary timelines. If at any time during the process, the applicant is no longer able to meet the requirements, they may be withdrawn from consideration.

Timeline:

Cohort 1 Timeline (August ’25 – May ’26) :

• Application open 1/14/25
• Applications due: 2/22/25
• Student notified of offer/denial after the second interview with field instructor 
• By 3/15/25
• Pre-employment checklist (fingerprints, physicals, paperwork): Mar-Aug 2025

• New Employee Orientation - 8/18-19

   

Cohort 2 Timeline (January ’26- May/July ’26)

• Application open 9/2/25
• Applications due: 9/20/2025
• Student notified of offer/denial after the second interview with field instructor 
• By 10/11/25
• Pre-employment checklist (fingerprints, physicals, paperwork): Oct-Dec 2025
• New Employee Orientation - January 12-13, 2026

Additional Information

Historically, there have been modest stipends available for students, yet they are limited. The approval of these funds occurs annually at the national level and that decision may not be made until after interns are accepted or have begun their internship. This potential benefit will be reviewed with those students who are accepted for internship. It is recommended that student applicants do not base their decision to apply to VA St. Louis Health Care System for Social Work Internship on this potential benefit. 

VA St. Louis Health Care System Social Work Service welcomes applicants with disabilities and does not discriminate on any grounds.

Contact Us

Jessie Holdinghaus, LCSW, BCD
Chair of Social Work Intern Program

jessica.holdinghaus@va.gov

Meghan Leach, LCSW
Co-Chair of Social Work Intern Program

Meghan.leach2@va.gov