Spiritual Care Services

Spiritual Care Education – CPE

Description of the Clinical Setting: Stanford Health Care is an academic medical center with an international reputation for advanced treatment of complex disorders in areas such as cardiovascular care, cancer treatment, critical care (Trauma 1), neurosciences, surgery, orthopedics, and transplantation.

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Students (Interns, Residents, Fellows, and Certified Educator CPE students) provide spiritual care across Stanford Health Care and are on-call for Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford.

About the Program: CPE at SHC provides interfaith professional education for spiritual care through reflective practice and feedback from peers and teachers, students develop new awareness of themselves and their spiritual care.  We are accredited for CPE by ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care & Education – Tel: 404-320-1472.

Four programs of CPE are currently conducted on the Stanford campus: a year-long residency, an extended unit internship, a post-residency fellowship, and a certified educator course.

Program participants are part of the university community at Stanford, and we are located on campus and have direct access to extensive resources and facilities. Most programs offer a clinical practicum in spiritual care at Stanford Hospital, involving placement within interdisciplinary teams. CPE chaplains are included in on-call rotations (day, evening, and weekends), including coverage at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health (Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital). The clinical setting offers an extensive range of specialties and healthcare education typical of major teaching hospitals.

CPE Residency: A year-long residency is designed to provide in-depth training in spiritual care and healthcare chaplaincy, including spiritual/religious/philosophical reflection and personal integration.  The program includes opportunities for Level I and II CPE. Graduates receive four units of CPE credit (12-13 weeks each), contributing to readiness for board certification.

CPE Internship: Two types of internship are offered at SHC: (a) The Extended Unit Internship is designed for those who would like to complete units of CPE at a part-time pace.  The two units offered per year include Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer (25 weeks each); Interns are admitted for up to two units (one year) at a time. (b) The Summer Internship is an intensive, 11-week unit of CPE, designed to be an introduction to professional/personal formation in spiritual care.  Contact us for information on current offerings.

CPE Fellowship: This year-long, full-time program offers advanced specialization training for applicants with at least four units of CPE.  Current specializations include Blood Marrow Transplantation-Cell Therapy (BMT-CT), Palliative Care, and Psychiatry/Critical Care/Emergency Department.  The fellowship includes two half-year (25-week) extended units of CPE (Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer).

Certified Educator CPE: The Certified Educator Program trains ACPE Certified Educators.  Applicants must hold a graduate theological degree or its equivalent, ordination or commissioning recognized by ACPE, endorsement/statement of accountability from an appropriate religious/spiritual authority as determined by ACPE, successful completion of four units of Level I/Level II ACPE Inc. CPE, demonstration of spiritual care and conceptual competence, and successful evaluation of the competencies for admission to a Certified Educator Program.

Schedule:
2024-2025 CPE Year, All Programs: September 16, 2024 – September 12, 2025

2025-2026 CPE Year, All Programs: September 15, 2025 – September 11, 2026

For More Information on How to Apply:
We conduct a rolling admissions process, beginning in November, until all positions are filled for the following academic year.  Inquiries about applying for CPE should be directed to Spiritual Care Education-CPE, c/o Spiritual Care Services, Stanford Health Care. SpiritualCare@stanfordhealthcare.org. We will respond with application materials, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document, and instructions for completing the admissions process. All submitted applications should include a processing fee of $30.