Frequently asked questions
About our Program
United Hospital Clinical Pastoral Education Program strives to empower students to provide meaningful and effective spiritual care, while strengthening their emotional and spiritual health.
What is clinical pastoral education (CPE)?
Clinical pastoral education (CPE) is a method of theological education, by which a student learns spiritual care skills in a supervised clinical setting. CPE seeks to provide a nurturing and stimulating setting for the student to gain self-awareness, spiritual care practitioner identity and competence, integration of theology and practice, and awareness of human worth and potential.
What do CPE students do and learn?
Our students serve as spiritual care practitioners at one of our hospital locations.
They extend spiritual care to people coping with health crises, such as hospitalization, chronic and terminal illness, or the imminent or recent death of a loved one. In doing so, our students:
- Participate in a wide range of clinical opportunities
- Reflect and dialogue about encounters with patients, families, and staff
- Learn from and with CPE peers, valuing all perspectives
- Integrate faith, theology, experience, and "soul" into professional expressions
- Develop collaborative partnerships with physicians, nurses, spiritual care staff, and peers as part of the interdisciplinary care model
- Draw on the latest thinking in behavioral science, systems theory, ethics, and value-based decision making
For more information, call 651-241-8893651-241-8893 or email Kyle.Vlach@allina.com.