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Clinical Pastoral Education

MultiCare > Patient & Visitor Resources > Healthy Living > Spiritual Care > Clinical Pastoral Education

Information about Clinical Pastoral Education

MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, WA is accredited by ACPE to offer Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). CPE is designed for individuals who wish to improve spiritual care skills and develop spiritual identity through a deeper understanding of themselves and those they care for. It is practical learning about how to recognize and address the spiritual concerns of others.

Under the supervision of an ACPE Certified Educator, students reflect on patient encounters with a peer group to discover how their personal history, culture, social context and personal theology impact their pastoral care. In addition, students learn concepts in pastoral care and apply their learning to future encounters. This process of action-reflection has proven to be a very effective means of learning pastoral care.

Program structure

CPE consists of 400 hours of supervised education. A minimum of 100 hours is dedicated to classroom time while the remaining 300 hours are allotted for patient visitation, charting, staff care and on-call duties. Our CPE program is Accredited to offer Level I and Level II CPE. We accept both interns and residents. Residents join as employees for a year and accrue three semesters of CPE. MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital retains full and sole authority of the residency program. Student placement is negotiated to balance institutional and student needs. Placement is available at one of three main locations:

Program dates and application availability

Summer extended unit (16 weeks)
May 8, 2024 – August 23, 2024
Closed

Residency program (3 units)
September 9, 2024 – August 22, 2024
Open until filled

Fall extended unit (16 weeks)
September 11, 2024 – December 20, 2024
Applications Due by July 10, 2024

Winter/Spring extended unit (16 weeks)
January 8, 2025 – April 18, 2025
Applications Due by November 6, 2024

Summer extended unit (16 weeks)
May 7, 2025 – August 22, 2025
Applications Due by March 5, 2025

For seminarians interested in a Summer unit, it’s possible to do clinicals during your summer break. Even if you’re not yet finished your Spring Semester by May 7 you could join this unit. Please contact the CPE Program Coordinator to talk about this further.

MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital admission policy

Admission requirements:

  • Faith group identification or affiliation
  • Completion of one year of theological education or significant experience in a spiritual/religious/ministry setting
  • Completed and signed application form, including essays.
  • Admission interview
  • Acceptance into a CPE program by the admission committee
  • Payment of the non-refundable deposit of $200
  • Signing of student consent form
  • Student registration with ACPE.edu
  • Health and Background checks
  • Payment of $600 tuition fee (this amount includes the deposit)

Download the full admission policy (.docx)

Download the CPE application form (.docx)

Download the CPE consent form (.docx)

Additional residency program criteria:

In addition to the above these minimum criteria for Residency program must be met.

  • Must have successfully completed at least 1-unit of CPE at an ACPE accredited center.
  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent — master’s degree or equivalent (completed or in progress) preferred.
  • Final evaluations from each prior CPE Unit.

How to apply

Please email the completed ACPE standard application to: Rabbi Maurice Appelbaum, ACPE educator, [email protected]

Feel free to email or call with any questions: 917-656-8622

Selected applicants will be contacted for a virtual interview.

This Clinical Pastoral Education program is accredited by the ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education.

For more information, please contact:

ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education
1 Concourse Pkwy, Suite 800
Atlanta, GA 30328
Phone: 404-320-1472
Email: [email protected]