Associate Professor

Department Online Program MSW

Mailing Address

Regis College

235 Wellesley Street
Weston, MA 02493

About

Dr. Gerritsen-McKane has been actively engaged in social work for 20+ years, most of that time has been spent in academia in the area of field education. Her passion for field education was cemented when her PhD research culminated in developing a field education model for a founding BSW program at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana.

She is passionate about global social work and has conducted research in Argentina, Ghana, Morocco, Mozambique, Haiti, Japan and China, where she was a visiting professor at Wuhan University of Technology. Further she mentored students in their research, while completing their field education in Mexico, Guatemala, Jordan, South Korea, Germany, Ghana, Batswana, Peru, and Austria.

She has presented in over 60 conferences world-wide and published several articles with co-authors.

Dr. Gerritsen-McKane was privileged to complete a post-doctoral certification in Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recover through Harvard University’s Program in Refugee Trauma. One of her takeaways from this opportunity was the reality that there is nothing happening in the world that is not happening here in the United States. Consequently, we are much more alike than we are different. Her philosophy immediately found companionship with Regis College as she studied the Core Values of the Sisters of St. Joseph, particularly “Love and service of the Dear Neighbor without distinction.”

Professional experience

Clinical Director; Clinical Therapist; Post Doc - Post-doctoral Certificate (1-year) - Global Mental Health Trauma and Recovery Program, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts and Instituto Superiore di Sanita, Orvieto, Italy May 2012; Institutional Review Boards; and Multiple Board of Director memberships, particularly in the area of drugs and alcohol.

An Interview with Dr. Ruth Gerritsen-McKane

Typical classes taught

  • SW612 Field Ed Intern and Seminar I
  • SW618 Field Ed Intern and Seminar II
  • SW632 Field Ed Intern and Seminar III
  • SW638 Field Ed Intern and Seminar IV

Education

Doctor of Social Work (DSW), University of Utah

Master of Social Work (MSW), University of Utah

Bachelor of Science (BS), Brigham Young University

Awards Honors

Invited as Visiting Professor Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China, May 2015 - May 2019

University of Utah, College of Social Work, BSW Outstanding Faculty Award, 2016