There are 145 collaborations between UI departments and United Way agencies. Legal Services works closely with College of Law clinical programs. The College of Dentistry collaborates with Dental Services for Indigent Children of Johnson County. Field work is the cornerstone of our professional education curriculum. You wouldn't turn new physicians out to practice medicine if they had never had experience with real patients, nor would we do so in social work.
Students crave the field experience after spending so much time in class.
Very often it is the first time students have been able to apply helping skills and they feel they are contributing. They usually experience a lot of growth. That was true for Sharon Bleke, a social work graduate. She did a practicum at the Mid-Eastern Iowa Community Mental Heath Center that brought her classroom experience to life. Everything I was working for finally came together.