Clinical Pastoral Education

Description of the Clinical Setting: Stanford Health Care is a 600 bed academic medical center with an international reputation for advanced treatment of complex disorders in areas such as cardiovascular care, cancer treatment, neurosciences, surgery, orthopedics, and transplantation.

The Stanford University Medical Center is comprised of three world-renowned institutions: Stanford Health Care, the Stanford University School of Medicine, and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford.

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Students (Interns, Residents, Level II Specialization and Supervisory 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: The Center for CPE provides interfaith [LE1] professional education for spiritual care Through reflective practice and feedback from peers and teachers, students develop new awareness of themselves and their spiritual care[LE2] .

Four programs of ACPE Inc. CPE are conducted on the Stanford campus; they are a single unit (summer) internship, a year-long residency, a certified educator course, and two extended unit mixed learner cohorts.  The Extended Unit offers post residency CPE, Pre Certified Educator CPE, and sub-specialty CPE.

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 healthcare at Stanford Hospital, with options for sub-specialty rotations. CPE chaplains are included in on-call coverage (evening and weekends) at Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford (LPCH Stanford). Each clinical setting offers an extensive range of specialties and medical education typical of major teaching hospitals.

CPE Summer Internship: The Summer internship begins the first week of June and concludes the third weekend of August. The program is designed to introduce healthcare and spiritual care providers to the practice of professional chaplaincy.

CPE Residency: A year-long residency begins in September, the Wednesday after Labor Day, and concludes the fourth weekend of the following August. The program is designed to provide participants with opportunities for Level I, and II CPE. Graduates receive four units of ACPE Inc. certified CPE.

Extended Unit Mixed Learner Cohort: Those interested in preparing for Board Certification, Advanced Chaplaincy Certification, Certified Educator CPE Admissions, or other Subspecialty may apply for our Extended Unit cohorts offered in Fall and Spring.  In addition, those interested in enrolling in part-time CPE, may apply for an internship placement in the EU mixed learner cohort.

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.

For More Information on How to Apply:
Inquires about applying for CPE should be directed to the Center for CPE, C, Spiritual Care Service, Stanford Health Care. SpiritualCare@stanfordhealthcare.org. We will respond with application materials, a Frequenly Asked Questions (FAQ) document, and instructions for completing the admissions process. All submitted applications should include a processing fee of $30.