Masters Social Work
PRIME: Promoting Rigorous & Interdisciplinary Mental Healthcare Education
The purpose of the PRIME program is to develop and enhance clinical training opportunities for graduate students in the MSW and Clinical Psychology programs to improve the distribution and supply of the behavioral health workforce in high-need and high-demand areas and with underserved populations. Students interested in participating in the training are eligible for a $10K stipend during their last year in their respective program when they complete the sponsored specialized training opportunities and an internship/field placement at a site approved by Millersville University and PRIME.
PRIME Program Highlights
Learn about the PRIME program from Dr. Karen Rice, and hear from a grant recipient and field instructor.
The PRIME program offers specialized interdisciplinary training opportunities in the following areas:
- Cultural competency,
- Integrating technology into clinical services (such as telehealth), and
- Working with children, adolescents, and transitional-aged youth at risk for behavioral health disorders.
Contact Us
If you would like more information regarding the PRIME stipend or our programs, please email prime@millersville.edu.
This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $1.9 million. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.”
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PRIME STIPEND ASSESSMENT AND DATA (2021-2022)
Overall, in this first year of the PRIME stipend, the leadership team has been very successful at meeting its goals and objectives. Marketing materials have been developed, and members of the leadership team have met their goals in sharing information about the PRIME program. Quantitative and qualitative analyses provide evidence that PRIME participants find the trainings to be of value and are expanding their knowledge and skill set. There has also been good progress towards enhancing the curriculum, with one new interdisciplinary course and three courses incorporating experiential learning (one in Psychology and two in Social Work). Below are some key recommendations as the PRIME stipend moves into its second year.
- Webinar Trainings and Training Topics The leadership team has already modified the timing of the webinar trainings – with two in the Fall 2022 and two in the Spring 2023 semesters. Evaluation results show that participants found the telehealth trainings to be of great value and future trainings should continue to focus on that topic. Based on feedback on webinar attendees, community partners, and faculty, we would recommend two separate webinar trainings: one focused more narrowly on de-escalating aggression and violence in encounters with youth, and another focused more broadly on trauma-informed care. In particular, community partners expressed the need for interns and field placements to have a strong grasp of trauma-informed care (also see Appendix K for a more detailed report).
- Curriculum There is excellent progress towards enhancing the curriculum. The faculty incorporating experiential learning into their courses demonstrate a high level of reflective teaching and have already planned out modifications and improvement. There is really only one main recommendation here (which might or might not be feasible) – to provide faculty with more frequent reminders that they have agreed to participate in course creation and modification, and that they should do so in a timely manner.
- Data Collection and Evaluation There is agreement that the evaluation team will create a timeline for data collection and evaluation, which will also align tasks and responsibilities to team members. The leadership and evaluation team will review and modify this timeline together. This should hopefully make the process more streamlined and efficient for the 2022-2023 academic year.
- The PRIME survey scales document the success of this stipend program in its first year, with participants self-reporting statistically significant improvements on almost all scales and subscales. While this is not written into the stipend proposal, it might be useful to conduct interviews with PRIME participants at the end of the academic year to gather more in-depth information on their opinions of how the program can be better modified and improved.