Frequently Asked Questions about the CPE Program
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1. How much does it cost to take CPE?
The Bay Area Center for CPE program charges $500 tuition if you are taking a single summer CPE unit. If you are enrolled in our year-long residency program, each unit of training costs $400. This amount is due in the first week of the unit. Your non-refundable $200 deposit is applied toward the tuition cost. Other costs, such as registration fees for retreats, are paid for you by the CPE center.
2. How much will I be paid?
If you are a summer intern, unfortunately, you will not be paid. If you are a fulltime year-long resident, however, you will receive $28,000 per year, paid in twelve and a half monthly installments, one at the end of each month of training and a half payment in the concluding September of your training year. This money will be paid to you in the form of a check without tax withholding. Because you will not be an employee of CHW, direct deposit and automatic tax withholding are not available. You are advised to plan accordingly to ensure that you can fulfill your income tax obligations.
3. Will I receive any days off?
If you are a resident, you will accrue five (5) days of personal leave for each unit of CPE that you complete except for the fourth unit; in other words, you will have accrued fifteen (15) total days of personal leave. These days may be used for vacation times between units (or during Christmas Week), for personal appointments, or if you are ill and cannot report for clinical duty. Any personal leave days you intend to use must be approved by your individual supervisor. In addition, CPE students are not required to work on recognized hospital holidays (with the exception of the chaplain on-call, who then receives a compensatory day off from clinical duty). Interns do not accrue personal leave days.
4. Is housing provided?
No. We will inform you of housing opportunities as we learn of them. 5. Is medical insurance provided? No. However, year-long residents receive up to $300 per month in reimbursement for medical insurance premiums they pay. This can result in additional $3,600 in stipend received.
6. Is parking provided?
Currently parking is free for chaplain students at all three sites. You will need to contact the supervisor at the site where you are assigned to learn about parking policies. All three sites are accessible by public transit.
7. What is a typical day in the CPE program?
On Monday through Thursday mornings and all day on Fridays, you will work in your assigned clinical areas, providing spiritual care to patients, family members, and employees. On Monday through Thursday afternoons, usually, you will have class sessions with your peers. You also will have a one-hour individual meeting with your CPE supervisor each week. In addition, you and your peers will share in covering the overnight on-call system.
8. What is on-call coverage?
Each hospital requires that chaplains must be available to respond to emergencies no matter when they occur, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In order to fulfill this responsibility, we assign a chaplain each day to serve as the overnight or weekend on-call chaplain. You can expect to be assigned on-call duty approximately once every four to six nights. While it is possible that you may be awakened at night or in the early morning during your call shift, we estimate that such an event occurs only about once every three or four times you are on-call. Furthermore, if you are on-call for a weekend day, you receive the preceding Friday as a compensatory day off.
9. What is required to complete a CPE unit?
In order to receive credit for a full unit of CPE training, you must complete at least 300 hours of clinical work (providing spiritual care) and 100 hours of educational time, which includes group sessions and individual supervision sessions. If you are absent during a unit, you may be required to "make up" clinical hours in order to receive credit. You must also fulfill the written and reading requirements, which include a statement of ministry (in your first unit), a weekly verbatim report (i.e., a record of a conversation you have with a patient or other care recipient), a weekly highlight report, a weekly review/summary of your individual supervisory session, assigned reading, a mid-unit self-evaluation, and a final self-evaluation.
10. There seems to be so much to know. Will I receive any orientation?
Yes. We provide a full orientation to the CPE program, including a comprehensive student handbook, that should answer many of your questions about working as a chaplain in a hospital environment. In addition, the hospital where you will serve will give you orientation within the first month of your arrival.
11. Will I have the same supervisor?
It depends. If you are a summer intern, you will have the same supervisor for your individual sessions during the entire unit. If you are a year-long resident, you may have more than one supervisor during the course of your residency year.
12. Will my individual supervisor be qualified to supervise me?
Yes. All of the supervisory staff are certified to supervise CPE students, either independently or with on-site certified supervision. In addition to CPE certification, several of us also hold credentials as board certified chaplains with the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC) or with the National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC).
13. Can I be certified as a chaplain after taking CPE?
For both APC and NACC, four units of ACPE are required to apply for certification. However, both organizations have other requirements, and so the answer to this question depends to a great extent upon whether or not you meet these other requirements. Our supervisory staff will be happy to assist you in determining your status in pursuing board certification as a chaplain.
14. Will I be able to find work as a chaplain after taking CPE?
While we can offer no guarantees, we do have a very good track record in placing our CPE students in chaplaincy positions. Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) puts a high emphasis on providing spiritual care to its patients, and frequently CHW facilities consult us to locate potential candidates for available staff chaplain jobs. If you have other questions, please call our offices (415) 750-5718.
The Bay Area Center for CPE program is accredited to offer CPE and Supervisory CPE by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc. (ACPE), an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education. Its offices are located at:
Association for Clinical Education, Inc.
1549 Clairmont Road, N.E., Suite 103
Decatur, GA 30033-4611
USA Telephone No. (404) 320-1472
Fax No.: (404) 320-0849
Website: www.acpe.edu
Executive Director: The Rev. Teresa E. Snorton
