About the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Program
The Department of Pastoral Care at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center offers a dynamic and challenging learning environment for students interested in professional and personal growth through Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). Our program is accredited by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education Inc. (ACPE) to offer Level I, Level II and Supervisory CPE. We offer four first-year residency positions in CPE each year. The residency is structured so that students receive mentoring in two of four primary areas: Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Heart Institute and Hematology / Oncology. First-year residents also gain extensive experience in trauma ministry during their on-call rotations.
We also offer single units of CPE, Levels I and II, throughout the year. A single unit of CPE runs for 4 months: Sept – Dec, Jan – April, and May – June.
Clinical placements for the single unit student may be at Cincinnati Children’s or at the student’s work setting (congregation, parish, hospice, outside hospital, skilled nursing or continuum of care facility).
Residents and single unit students in the Clinical Pastoral Education Program have the opportunity to:
- Develop perspective and skill in a family-systems approach to pastoral ministry
- Learn to assess and respond pastorally to complex theological and ethical issues that accompany the serious illness of an infant, child or adolescent
- Learn to provide pastoral care to members of the staff and to understand spiritual / theological issues at the organizational level
The residency program helps residents prepare for a variety of ministries including institutional chaplaincy, pastoral ministry in a congregation setting, volunteer ministries and pastoral counseling. Children and families come in every conceivable combination. Ministry events at Cincinnati Children’s are filled with opportunities for learning. Although Clinical Pastoral Education in the pediatric setting equips the resident with specialized skills in working with children and families, the overall program focuses more broadly on competence in pastoral care.
