Maine Medical Center

Clinical Pastoral Education

Clinical pastoral education (CPE) began in New England about 75 years ago in response to a need for persons of faith to learn how to practice effective pastoral care and to integrate their own spiritual history into that process. At that time, CPE was primarily for ordained clergy and seminary students. That has now been expanded to clergy, lay people and persons seeking to explore the spiritual dimensions of their professions.

In 1967, four separate organizations joined together to form The Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc.(ACPE). Since that time, students of all denominations and faiths have been encouraged to bring their spiritual understandings to people going through critical life experiences to support, encourage and enhance healing. All Maine Medical Center (MMC) CPE programs are fully accredited by the ACPE which is nationally recognized as an accrediting agency by the U.S. Secretary of Education through the U.S. Department of Education.

About the MMC CPE Program

The MMC CPE program involves assignments to patient units, interpersonal group interaction, written impressions, verbatim reports, personal supervisory conferences, didactic lectures, worship leadership and personal and program evaluation. Consequent CPE units can allow for specialization in a particular area of spiritual care in the health care setting.

The summer session is a 12-week, full-time program designed to accommodate those in a graduate academic program or other ministry workers with schedule availability for an intensive (40+ hours), three month-long clinical immersion experience. 

The fall session is a part-time, 30-week program designed to accommodate those in a graduate academic program or working in a part-time job with flexibility in their hours. Students spend approximately 60% of their time in contact with patients and 40% in seminars, didactics and supervision. Other learning occurs through working with peers and hospital staff. The ACPE Certified Educator directs, guides, reviews and evaluates all of these experiences.

Session Information

Summer 2024 Session

The summer 2024 session has been filled. Applications will no longer be accepted.

 

Level I - Full Time Summer Intensive Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Program at Maine Medical Center: (Biddeford, Sanford, Portland) May 28th – August 16th, 2024: This program is designed primarily for theological students enrolled in seminary, although others such as clergy, qualified laypersons, or those preparing for professional chaplaincy are welcome to apply. This is a 12-week, full-time Level I Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program, designed to accommodate those in a graduate academic program or other ministry workers with schedule availability for an intensive (40 hours), three month-long clinical immersion experience. The total hours required to earn ACPE credit for this unit equal 400, of which a minimum of 300 hours are spent in direct patient care and 100 hours in educational activities. Weekly reading and writing assignments are also required.

Required Weekly Hours*: All students must be available Monday through Friday from 8 am to 4:30 pm which are the primary class/clinical visiting days and times. The first nine CPE class days on May 28th-June 7th will occur from 8 am to 4 pm and are devoted to orientation. 

Additional weekly visiting hours and on-call shift information: Starting the week of June 10th, you will begin visiting patients. CPE class time occurs on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 8 am - noon, with 1 pm - 4:30 pm on those days dedicated to patient visits on your assigned medical units. This will take place on our Biddeford Campus. Mondays, Thursdays & Fridays are clinical visiting days with no classes. In addition to class and visiting time, you will also have one hour of individual supervision time with the ACPE Certified Educator. This will occur biweekly on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and will be scheduled by mutual arrangement.  Periodic in-house on-call shifts also occur throughout the unit, and these may be individually scheduled on weeknights, weekends and/or holidays. A minimum of 7 such shifts, which last either 8 or 12 hours depending on the time of day selected, will fulfill the requirement of 300+ total patient care hours when combined with your regular weekday visiting times over 12 weeks.

Admission Requirements: Applicants must have a high school diploma, a bachelor’s degree and some graduate-level theological education and ministry experience. Any request for exceptions to these requirements should be directed to Rev. Heather Weidemann, Director of Spiritual Care and ACPE Certified Educator and Rev. Shelly Snow, Director of Spiritual Care and ACPE Certified Educator Candidate. Applicants will be assessed by the ACPE Certified Educators and other staff in an interview for their readiness for clinical learning, suitability for functioning in the chaplain role, and capacity for serving according to the hospital’s expectations. Admission Policy and Financial Policy.

Application: All CPE programs require the use of the ACPE application form. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until the unit is full. Due to volume of applications, not all applicants are interviewed. We will post on this page when the program is full. Completed applications can be submitted via mail or email (kasey.grover@mainehealth.org):

Total Tuition: $1200.00

Extended MMC Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Program: October 1st, 2024 – April 18th, 2025
 

Program Information: This ACPE-accredited clinical pastoral education (CPE) program is designed primarily for theological students, clergy, qualified laypersons, and/or those preparing for professional chaplaincy. This is a 30-week, part-time Level I – II CPE program, designed to accommodate those in a graduate academic program or working in a part-time job with flexibility in their hours. The total in-person hours required to earn ACPE credit for this unit equal 400, of which a minimum of 300 hours are spent in direct patient care and 100 hours in educational activities. Weekly reading and writing assignments are also required. 

Required Weekly Hours: All students must be available on Thursdays from 1 pm to 5 pm, which is the primary class day. A mandatory orientation will be held on October 1st – October 4th from 8 am to 4pm. Those 4 days will be spent orienting you to the department of spiritual care, our CPE program, your role as a student chaplain and the clinical units where patient visits will occur. Attendance during the full period of orientation is mandatory.

Additional weekly on-call shift information, beginning week two and beyond: Starting the week of October 7th -11th, you will begin visiting patients. These are called on-call shifts and they may be individually scheduled on weeknights, weekends and/or holidays. Each student will typically work 1-2 on-call shifts per week over the course of the program. These shifts, which last either 8 or 12 hours depending on the time of day selected, will be scheduled in collaboration with our department staff to fulfill the ACPE requirement of 300+ total patient care hours over 30 weeks. In addition to class and visiting time, you will also have one hour of individual supervision time with the ACPE certified educator. This will occur bi-weekly by mutual arrangement. 

Admission Requirements: Applicants must have a high school diploma, a bachelor’s degree and some graduate-level theological education and ministry experience. Any request for exceptions to these requirements should be directed to Rev. Heather Weidemann, Director of Spiritual Care and ACPE Certified Educator and Rev. Shelly Snow, Director of Spiritual Care and ACPE Certified Educator Candidate. Applicants will be assessed by the ACPE Certified Educators and other staff in an interview for their readiness for clinical learning, suitability for functioning in the chaplain role, and capacity for serving according to the hospital’s expectations. 

Application: All ACPE-CPE programs require the use of the standard ACPE application form found on the ACPE website. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the Unit is 
full. Completed applications can be mailed or emailed to Kasey.Grover@mainehealth.org. Due to volume of applicants, not all applicants are interviewed.  We will post on our website when the program is full. 

Tuition: $900.00 (books and course materials included)

 

Contact Us

For more information, please call 207-662-2951.

Application Form

To apply, please complete the ACPE application form and return it to us with all required materials.

This Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program at Maine Medical Center is fully accredited to offer Levels I & II CPE by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE), 1 Concourse Pkwy, Suite 800 Atlanta, GA 30328 USA; Phone: 404-320-1472.