As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, educational systems were forced to adapt to the new reality of online learning, causing practical academic specializations, such as social work (SW), to be severely affected. To highlight the perspectives of SW students during the pandemic, we used a mixed sociological approach that combined exploratory qualitative research (using the focus-group technique) with cross-sectional quantitative research. Participants who had both on-site and online SW studies before and after the COVID-19 outbreak were included in the study. The study was conducted during a period when almost all educational activities were held online. We aimed to investigate students’ perceptions of the educational process during the pandemic, how their wellbeing was affected, and their perspectives on educational and professional development. Students identified advantages of online learning, such as discovering online learning tools, and disadvantages, mainly marked by concerns about their career path once practical activities were heavily limited by institutional measures and policies. Our conclusions suggest that in a post-pandemic context, universities should provide continuous feedback, integrate students’ opinions into policies, offer material and technical support, facilitate access to high-quality resources, enrich the SW curricula with resilience programs, and organize peer-to-peer mentoring activities.

Background/Objectives: Our research paper aims to analyse the relationship between the perceived impact on mental health due to the COVID-19 pandemic, social well-being, and psychological well-being among social work students. As we transition from the pandemic phase to an endemic phase of COVID-19, it is necessary to examine these aspects, recognizing the interdependence and complementarity of social and medical care within the healthcare system. Methods: The research was conducted nearly three years after the lockdown measures imposed by the spread of COVID-19, during a period when onsite academic activities had resumed, as they were prior to the pandemic. The sample consisted of 235 social work students from both bachelor’s and master’s programmes studying at a large university in Romania. Data was collected between December 2022 and January 2023, during a time when onsite educational activities were once again taking place. Results: Our results show that, despite the significant amount of time that had passed since the pandemic began, its negative effects were still strongly felt on a psychosocial level. Conclusions: This finding leads us to conclude that there is a long-term COVID-19 impact on mental health. Most study participants reported experiencing high (42.10%) or moderate (23%) levels of being mentally affected, which also affected their psychological and social well-being, key factors in preparing future social-medical care professionals to provide adequate integrated healthcare services.