The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center (HSC), within the School of Medicine, now offers a Master of Social Work degree (MSW), and it’s the first program in New Mexico to include a concentration in medical social work.
Students in the two-year MSW program will be able to choose between a concentration in clinical social work, which means specializing in counseling for mental and behavioral health (including substance-use disorders), and a concentration in medical social work, which means learning advanced case management for clients in medical settings.
We’re not just talking about, ‘How do we provide therapy to the person in the office in front of us?’ We’re also looking at, ‘How do we understand the neighborhood they live in, the community they live in? What are some of the social-justice issues that are going on around the people who you’re working with individually?’
– Jen Panhorst, DSW, LCSW, Director, Master of Social Work Degree Program, UNM School of Medicine
“We know we have a huge shortage of people who are providing therapy in the state,” said Jen Panhorst, DSW, LCSW, director of the MSW program at UNM. “So, this is an urgent need for New Mexico, to produce more clinical social workers.”
Panhorst has been developing the new program from its inception.
“It’s felt for a little while like I’ve had this project that I can’t really share with anybody just yet, and so to finally be able to share it with the larger UNM community but also the rest of New Mexico is just thrilling,” she said.
The new MSW program is funded by a $10.5 million endowment that UNM received from the New Mexico Higher Education Department. This fund is meant to help increase the social work workforce in the state.
Master of Social Work Degree
Applications accepted from June 15–Aug. 31, 2026
“We cannot improve New Mexico’s behavioral health crisis without investing in the people who provide care and support every day,” said Michael Richards, MD, MPA, executive vice president for the HSC and chief executive officer of the UNM Health System. “Social workers are a critical part of building up New Mexico’s behavioral health environment. This new program will help expand our workforce and increase access to services while preparing professionals who understand the unique needs of New Mexico’s communities.”
The field of social work overlaps with the field of mental-health counseling, but social work is different in some important ways, Panhorst said.
“Social work practice is more broad,” she said. “We’re not just talking about, ‘How do we provide therapy to the person in the office in front of us?’ We’re also looking at, ‘How do we understand the neighborhood they live in, the community they live in? What are some of the social-justice issues that are going on around the people that you’re working with individually?’”
Panhorst added that social workers have an ethical obligation to engage in advocacy work with the goal to improve their clients’ lives by understanding and changing policy. For example, a social worker might tackle environmental justice by advocating for the cleanup of an oil spill that is affecting the health of clients.
Medical social workers practice advanced case management for patients in medical settings.
The MSW program’s concentration in medical social work is the first of its kind in New Mexico.
Medical social workers provide several key services. They handle advanced case management for clients in medical settings such as hospitals, hospice, home health care and dialysis clinics. In the community, a medical social worker strives to get their clients the services they need so that they don’t have to go back to a medical facility. They also support clients and their families through the process of death and dying.
“It has been meaningful to see this program develop from its earliest stages, including helping secure the initial investment through the New Mexico Higher Education Department,” said Shelly McLaughlin, MS, EMT-I, associate dean for the Master of Social Work program. “I’m honored to continue this work in the School of Medicine as we prepare to welcome our first cohort and expand behavioral health capacity across the state.”
Janelle Torres-Groover, LCSW, MPH, field director of the MSW program, said they have received significant positive feedback from health providers in the Albuquerque metro area—including social workers at UNM—about the new concentration in medical social work.
“Not only are we really excited, I feel like the community is really excited about us having this concentration,” Torres-Groover said.
To enter the MSW program at UNM, a bachelor’s degree in social work is not required, and backgrounds in humanities or social sciences may be suitable.
“I really encourage people to consider it if they’ve ever thought about it, because there’s a lot of undergraduate education that has potential for working with the prerequisites for applying for the MSW,” Panhorst said.
Strong applicants for the MSW program might have a service orientation or volunteer experience.
“These are things that will illustrate how they want to help make the communities that we live in better,” she said.
And, because she is focused on growing the healthcare workforce in New Mexico, Panhorst said she is looking for students who want to work in New Mexico after graduation.
“That would also be a strong applicant, somebody who really plans to stay here,” she said.
Panhorst touted several reasons why prospective applicants should choose UNM for their MSW. For one, it’s a mostly in-person learning program, with evening classes available and some flexibility for remote learning.
“I think there’s something valuable about in-person learning, when we’re talking about learning these skills that you need to be a successful social worker,” Panhorst said.
The MSW program is housed under the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the UNM School of Medicine. MSW students will be able to draw on the knowledge of psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, nurses, physicians and more.
“This is more reflective of the types of settings that social workers work in,” Panhorst said. “We don’t work in a silo just with other social workers. We’ll be able to give an educational experience that is more reflective of the types of settings that people work in.”
Torres-Groover said she looks forward to helping train a new generation of social workers in the MSW program.
“I’m a very proud Lobo, and I’m really glad that we can have this program at UNM,” she said.
Applications and full program details are available here. Applications will close on Aug. 31, 2026, with the first cohort of enrolled students expected to start in January 2027.