Clinical Pastoral Education
Clinical Pastoral Education at UVM Health
Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is an experiential spiritual care education designed to develop one’s ability to provide spiritual care for patients, families and staff. The guiding principles and underlying assumptions include the following:
- Spiritual care takes place in the context of relationship
- One’s own personhood is the most important tool one has for providing spiritual care
- One must be open to personal and professional growth, including ever increasing one’s self-awareness
- One must understand of one’s own spiritual/faith perspective and be willing to meet the spiritual/faith perspective of others with curiosity and compassion
- One must be aware of how one’s personal history may impact the role of chaplain
Chaplain interns who join us in the study and practice of spiritual care do so in an atmosphere of respect and honest communication and connection. We value our interns’ contributions to the spiritual care provided to patients, patients' loved ones and staff. Our aim is to make this experience valuable to our students in their professional training as spiritual care leaders and their personal growth as persons.
The Clinical Pastoral Education Program at UVM Health is accredited by ACPE, The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education.
Below are quick links to the ACPE application and answers to frequently asked questions about CPE.
Upcoming CPE Units
Our upcoming CPE unit at University of Vermont Medical Center is:
- Summer 2026 Full Time CPE Unit: May 25 – August 5, 2026.
We are no longer accepting applications for this unit.
CPE Program Tuition
Tuition is $900 per unit, the balance payable during the first week of the program unless otherwise arranged with the ACPE Certified Educator. A non-refundable deposit of $200 is required at the time of acceptance and is credited toward tuition cost.
We are committed to working with all accepted students to ensure that tuition costs are not a barrier to participating in our program.
Contact Us
For more information about the CPE program, please contact Rev. Nancy Wood, MDiv, ACPE Certified Educator at Nancy.Wood@uvmhealth.org or 802-847-7740.