Clinical Pastoral Education Programs

Summer Intensive
A 12 week program beginning in early June and continuing through the middle of August. This is a full time (45 hour/week) Unit.

Academic Year

Compressed Unit(s)
Our Compressed Units permit students to complete two Clinical Pastoral Education Units during the course of an academic year. Or, a student may opt for taking just one unit either in the fall or spring semester. The fall Unit runs from late September through mid-January; the spring Unit runs from the third week of January through late April or early May. Compressed Units are 2/3 time—28 hours/week.

Extended Unit
Our Extended Unit begins at the same time as the Compressed Unit but is completed over the course of the full academic year. The Extended Unit is 1/2 time, or less, at about 18 hours/week.

At present our Residency program does not offer a stipend. However, we can offer full-time, intensive programs during the academic year.

Costs
Application Fee: $50.00
Tuition: Each Unit of Clinical Pastoral Education is $1000.00
Some partial scholarships are available.

Requirements

• One year of approved postgraduate theological education beyond the bachelor’s degree, or equivalency.
• A demonstrated interest and concern for improving pastoral ministry and functioning through adult learning, action-reflection models.
• Physical and emotional capacity for undertaking a demanding program of Clinical Pastoral Education in a tertiary care, level one trauma pediatric setting.
• Good standing in one’s faith group and faith group endorsement.
• Application due for the following summer by December 15th, and for the Academic Year programs by July 1st. (For application format and content, use standard application from www.acpe.edu)

What Our Students Say
One of the many strengths of the Clinical Pastoral Education Program at Children’s is in its depth of clinical experience as a part of a multidisciplinary health care delivery team committed to world class Care. Here are some comments from our students:

• “Working with children and families has been a wonderful part of this summer. Not only do we work with the identified patient; we are also able to interact with many different parts of the family system. My work this summer has been with children from 1 day old to 18 [years] and their parents, step parents, siblings, grandparents, and extended family.”

• “Interdisciplinary collaboration was one of the great lessons for me when training as a Chaplain at Children’s National Medical Center. The medical, social-work, and child-life professionals are not only compassionate but collaborative. I now understand the significance of pastoral/spiritual care as an intricate part of a dynamic team dedicated to healing.”

• “CPE has been a summer of learning about myself and my own pastoral identity. My weekly meetings with [my supervisor] have been invaluable in this respect. She knows when to push me and when to let me talk things through and reach conclusions on my own.”

• “The group that my supervisor assembled is a great one. We come from a variety of faith traditions and have been able to explore our similarities and differences. We are able to challenge one another respectfully.”

• “Before starting CPE I heard a lot of horror stories – ‘it is so hard,’ ‘you’ll cry every day,’ ‘it is exhausting.’ While CPE has contained challenges as well as tears and exhaustion, I have found the experience to be uplifting. I enjoy the work I do with families and the time I spend with my peers. I would say CPE has been a growing experience, one that is both enlightening and rewarding.”

For more information, contact:

Children’s National Medical Center
Office of InterFaith Pastoral and Spiritual Care
111 Michigan Ave. NW
Washington , DC 20010  

Rev. Kathleen Ennis-Durstine
ACPE Associate Supervisor
Office: 202-476-3321
email: kennisdu@cnmc.org
Fax: 202-476-3076