Professional Identity Image of Iranian Medical social workers

Background: The evaluative attitude of the members of an occupational group affects the behavior of the members of that profession and other profession's behavior towards them. Objectives: this study seeks to understand the image that medical social workers in Tehran hospitals have presented based on their personal experiences.Method: This qualitative study, with an interpretive phenomenological approach, intends to fully understand the experience and conceptualization of the professional image of 22 social workers employed in 14 public hospitals in Tehran in 2017. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and observation and writing in the field.Results: Data analysis led to the extraction of thirteen categories and four main concepts including the nature of service, professional features, professional recognition, and professional isolation.Conclusion: The nature of the alleged service provided by the participants and the professional features which emerged from the data indicated sufficient basic knowledge and the required personal and behavioral characteristics by the profession. The extracted concepts of the credibility and the value of the profession in society clearly reveal the social workers’ relatively negative image of their profession.