Margaret S. Wool, Ph.D. specializes in the interface and interaction of personal/psychological adjustment and medical illness, particularly psychosocial oncology. Her work has included clinical practice; teaching at the undergraduate, graduate level, and medical school; and collaborative research.

Biography

Margaret S. Wool, Ph.D., BCD

Margaret S. Wool obtained her MSW in 1980 and Ph.D in 1986, both from Smith College School for Social Work. Since 1980, her career has included clinical practice, teaching, and research revolving around the interface of mental health and medical illness. Dr. Wool provides clinical consultation at NorthMain Radiation Oncology, and Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island, facilitating the adjustment of patients and families, and providing educational support to staff. She is involved in the education of family medicine interns and residents at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, and maintains a small private clinical practice.

She has served as adjunct faculty at Smith College School for Social Work, Simmons College School of Social Work, and is Clinical Faculty at Brown University School of Medicine. Currently, Dr. Wool teaches "Bearing Witness to Cancer," a multidisciplinary course integrating sciences and humanities, to undergraduates, and "Cancer Action and Reflection Elective" (C.A.R.E.) to first and second year medical students at Brown.

Dr. Wool has participated in research grants funded by the National Cancer Institute. She has authored 15 articles and 4 book chapters, mostly in the area of psychosocial oncology. She served as a consulting editor to Health and Social Work and a reviewer for Cancer Practice - a Multidisciplinary Journal of Cancer Care. She is a member of the Advisory Board of The Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults based in Maryland. Dr. Wool was a Director of the Board of the American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work from 1999 to 2006 and served as president from 2003-2005. ABE is a national standard setting organization for clinical social work.

Institutions

Rih

Awards

1994 Social Worker of the Year - Health/Mental Health, NASW-RI Chapter.
1997 Distinguished Service Award, NASW- RI Chapter.
2007 Recipient: Hope Award, Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults 10th Anniversary Columbia, MD October 26, 2007
2010 Elected to National Academies of Practice, a nonprofit professional organization composed of elected, distinguished representatives from ten different health professions.

Affiliations

Preceptor: Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, 2009 - present
Consultant: NorthMain Radiation Oncology, 1997 - present
Consultant: Home & Hospice Care of RI, 2009 - present

National Association of Social Workers: 1979 -
Association of Oncology Social Workers: 1985 -
American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work
Board Certified Diplomate:1989 -
National Academies of Practice: 2010 -

Teaching Experience

Cancer Action and Reflection Elective (C.A.R.E.)
for first- and second-year medical students

Course Director: Margaret S. Wool, Ph.D., BCD
Clinical Associate Professor,Department of Family Medicine
Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University
Consultant in Psychosocial Oncology and Hospice Care
Private Psychotherapy Practice

Office Hours: by arrangement
Margaret_Wool@Brown.edu
401-261-1500

Course Goals: This elective exposes medical students to the study and treatment of cancer through a biopsychosocial approach. The mission of this course is to emphasize the human, personal elements involved in the illness experience (including psychological and social components), and to cultivate knowledge, awareness and understanding to enhance clinical skills.

A series of lectures address various dimensions of oncology, including epidemiology, treatment, advocacy, spirituality, and psychological and emotional adjustment. Each student is paired with a cancer patient during the course to learn first-hand about the experience of cancer, treatment, and their impact on patient and family.

Courses Taught

• Bearing Witness to Cancer (BC0168-14)
• Bearing Witness to Cancer (PHP 1680 C)
• Cancer Action and Reflection Elective ("C.A.R.E.") [Medical Elective] (BI 1520)

Selected Publications

• Wool, M.: Book review: Teaching and Learning Communication Skills in Medicine (2e), By Suzanne Kurtz, Jonathan Silverman and Juliet Draper. Radcliffe Publishing Ltd, 2005, in Health Expectations, Vol.8: 363-365, 2005.(2005)
• Wool, M.; Mor, V.: "A multi-dimensional model for understanding Cancer Pain." Cancer Investigation, 23(8):727-734, 2005.(2005)
• Wool, M.: "Multidisciplinary Rounds" case response: "Hereditary Breast Cancer Risk." Cancer Practice, A Multidisciplinary Journal of Cancer Care, 7(6): 283-284, Nov/Dec 1999.(1999)
• Wool, M.: "Multidisciplinary Rounds" case response. "The Impact of Patient Anger and Resentment on Treatment Decisions." Cancer Practice, A Multidisciplinary Journal of Cancer Care, 5(5): 276-277, 1997.(1997)
• Mor, V.; Wool, M.S.; Guadagnoli, E.; Allen, S. "The impact of short-term case management on cancer patients' concrete needs and quality of life", in Advances in Medical Sociology, Quality of Life in Health Care. Albrecht, G. L.& Fitzpatrick, R. Vol. VI:, 269-294, JAI Press, Inc. Greenwich CT, 1995.(1995)
• Mor, V.; Wool, M.; Guadagnoli, E.; Allen, S.: The impact of short term case management on cancer patients' concrete needs and quality of life. Advances in Medical Sociology, 6: 269-294, 1995.(1995)
• Mor, V.; Masterson-Allen, S.; Goldberg, R.; Guadagnoli, E.; Wool, M.S.: Pre-diagnostic symptom recognition and help-seeking among cancer patients: Implications for educational intervention. Journal of Community Health, 15(4): 253-66, 1990.(1990)
• Wool, M.S.: Understanding Depression in Medical Patients, Part II: Clinical Intervention. Social Work in Health Care, 14(4): 39-52, 1990.(1990)
• Wool, M.S.: Understanding Depression in Medical Patients, Part I: Diagnostic Considerations. Social Work in Health Care, 14(4):25-38, 1990.(1990)
• Wool, M.; Guadagnoli, E.; Thomas, M.; Mor, V.: Negotiating concrete needs: Short term training for high-risk cancer patients. Health and Social Work, 14(3): 184-195, August, 1989.(1989)
• Wool, M.S.: "Understanding Denial in Cancer Patients". In: Advances in Psychosomatic Medicine: Psychiatric Aspects of Cancer. Goldberg, R.J. (Guest Editor), Karger Publishers, 1988.(1988)
• Mor, V.; Guadagnoli, E.; Wool, M.S.: "The Role of Concrete Services in Cancer Care". In: Advances in Psychosomatic Medicine: Psychiatric Aspects of Cancer. Goldberg, R.J. (Guest Editor), Karger Publishers, 1988.(1988)
• Mor, V.; Guadagnoli, E.; Wool, M.S.: "An Examination of the Concrete Service Needs of Advanced Cancer Patients". Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 5(1):1-15, Spring, 1987.(1987)
• Wool, M.S.: "Extreme Denial in Breast Cancer Patients and Capacity for Object Relations". Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 46:196-204, 1986.(1986)
• Wool, M.S.; Goldberg, R.J.: "Assessment of Denial in Cancer Patients: Implications for Intervention". Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 4(3):1-14, Fall, 1986.(1986)
• Goldberg, R.J.; Wool, M.S.: "Psychotherapy for the Spouses of Lung Cancer Patients: Assessment of an Intervention". Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 43:141-150, 1985.(1985)
• Mor, V.; Wool, M.S.: "Age and Acknowledgement of Disease Among Hospice Cancer Patients". The Gerontologist, November, 1985.(1985)
• Wool, M.S.: "Assessment of Object Relations in Selection for Brief Dynamic Psychotherapy: A Validation Study". In: The Broad Scope of Ego Function Assessment, L. Bellak and L. Goldsmith (Eds.). John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1984.(1984)
• Goldberg, R.J.; Wool, M.S.; Tull, R.M.; Boor, M.: "Teaching Brief Psychotherapy for Spouses of Cancer Patients: Use of a Codable Supervision Format". Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 41:12-19, 1984.(1984)
• Goldberg, R.J.; Wool, M.S.; Glicksman, A.S.; Tull, R.M.: "Relationship of Social Environment and Patients' Physical Status to Depression in Lung Cancer Patients and Spouses". Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, Vol. 2 (3/4), Fall/Winter, 1984.(1984)
• Goldberg, R.J.; Tull, R.M.; Sullivan, N.; Wallace, S.R.; Wool, M.S.: "Defining Discipline Roles in Consultation Psychiatry: A Multidisciplinary Team Approach to Psychosocial Oncology". General Hospital Psychiatry 6:17-23, 1984.(1984)
• Goldberg, R.J.; Tull, R.M.; Glicksman, A.S.; Wool, M.S.: "Teaching the Psychosocial Dimensions of Cancer Using Semistructured Interviewing". Medical and Pediatric Oncology, 10(6), 1982.(1982)
• Wool, M.S.: "Validation Study of Selection Criteria for Short-Term Anxiety-Provoking Psychotherapy". In: Smith College Studies in Social Work, L1 (1): 57-58, 1980.(1980)