Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Units

A "unit" of CPE consists of a total of 400 hours, combined with no less than 100 hours of structured group and individual education. Each unit shall be accompanied by supervised, clinical practice in ministry.

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Download an Application for Clinical Pastoral Education (can be submitted via email). The cost for a CPE unit is $500 (tuition) and, in most cases, a $50 application fee is required. 

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Staff Education

The Pastoral Care staff offers educational programs for nurses who operate as chaplains, medical residents who operate as chaplains, and clinical staff who operate as chaplains, as well as the non-clinical staff who are chaplains. Programs focus on issues of grief; end-of-life issues; respect and dignity; ethics; religion, distress, etc.

 

Field Education for Theology Students

The Pastoral Care department collaborates with seminaries and schools of theology to offer field education experiences for students. These learning opportunities include patients' visitation, supervision, and evaluation.

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Options for the Program
CPE courses at levels I and II are broken down into individual modules and made available to students.  A person's first unit of CPE is considered to be Level I.  After people have completed the desired learning goals, they are then eligible to enroll in additional units of CPE for the purpose of continuing their education and developing their skills.  One unit of continuing professional education requires a minimum of four hundred hours of study, of which at least one hundred hours must be spent attending educational seminars and receiving supervision, and the remaining three hundred hours must be devoted to delivering pastoral care in a healthcare facility.  The following is a list of the programs:

Extended Unit of Clinical Pastoral Education Available on a Part-Time Basis

These programs may be completed in either five or nine months at a reduced level of commitment.  In order to accommodate people who are either attending school or working in other capacities, a part-time schedule has been developed that spans over an extended period of time. Participants are required to maintain a consistent presence in class in addition to getting individual supervision. They are responsible for providing spiritual care in the clinical areas of the hospital that have been allocated to them in accordance with the agenda for the course of the unit.

Clinical Pastoral Education Intensive Unit Available on a Full-Time Summer Basis

During the months of May through August, students may participate in one full-time CPE unit for a total of ten weeks. Participants are required to work as chaplains in allocated therapeutic areas for a full-time commitment of forty hours per week. Seminars and weekly individual supervision each take up ten of the hours that are allotted to them.  

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Clinical Pastoral Education Accomplished During a Year Spent in Full-Time Residency

The Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Residency program is an educational and clinical program that lasts for a full year. It is meant for religious and spiritual leaders who have been ordained and approved and who have a desire to improve their abilities in the area of spiritual care while also getting ready for board certification. In most years, it starts in September and lasts all the way through the following September. During the academic year, students will earn a total of three CPE units. Participants are expected to work as chaplains in clinical areas for a full-time commitment of forty hours per week, in addition to attending weekly training seminars and receiving individual supervision. Every student has some responsibility that requires them to stay up overnight.