On Call: Samantha Tarcov Block, ’10 M.S.W.
Clinical Social Worker, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Samantha Tarcov Block met her first social worker at age 16 when her brother underwent frequent hospitalizations for a chronic illness. Today, she’s the one helping patients and families as a clinical social worker at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston.
Small classes, big benefits: In choosing Simmons, Block says that it was love at first visit. “Everyone I met, both faculty and students, was really excited and dedicated,” she explains. “I thought, ‘This is what I want to do and where I belong.’” A 2006 graduate of Boston University with a degree in psychology, she praises the intimacy of the Simmons program. “The professors want students to succeed,” she says. “They challenged me but also guided and inspired. Their passion for the work was tangible, and they applied rich clinical expertise to whatever we were studying.”
Real-world relevance: Block entered the program looking to build on clinical skills she developed as a caseworker for a child protection agency. In her first placement, she continued her work with kids, this time, as a counselor at a public school. A second-year internship in the organ-transplant program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center cemented her interest in medical social work. Her role: counseling patients awaiting new livers and kidneys.
One woman’s story, in particular, still inspires. “I sat with her through some heavy times,” says Block. “To see her through transplant and discharge, then to hear about her walking into the clinic after being so debilitated, is a powerful experience I’ll always carry.” Eminently equipped: As a member of a multidisciplinary team serving an in-house medicine floor at MGH, Block assists with a wide range of challenges, from substance abuse to end-of-life care. Yet the every-day-is-different nature of the job doesn’t intimidate her.
“I feel confident,” she says. “The combination of the excellent coursework, professors, and clinical placements at Simmons has thoroughly prepared me.”
