Clinical Pastoral Education

The program is located at Saint Vincent Hospital in the heart of downtown Worcester, MA. Committed to the holistic care of persons, this Roman Catholic affiliated institution is devoted meeting the spiritual needs of patients, families and staff through its Pastoral Care Department, of which the CPE program is a part.

The CPE program is nationally accredited through the Associated for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc. and is committed to providing high quality professional education in pastoral ministry through programs designed according to ACPE Standards, Level I & II Objectives and Outcomes. Consistent with those standards, students are offered the opportunity to deepen and integrate their pastoral identity and pastoral ministry skills through visitation with patients, peer supervision, didactic seminars and individual supervision focused by an individual learning contract. Chaplain interns gain self-awareness, skills in self-supervision, interpersonal skills, pastoral skills, and conceptual sophistication through the integration of academic knowledge to experiential learning in an action/reflection, adult learner model.

It is the policy of the Saint Vincent Hospital CPE Program to admit students regardless of their race, gender, age, faith group, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability.  Admission to CPE is in accord with the Human Resource Department Policy regarding hiring of hospital personnel. 

Persons interested in applying for the CPE programs can access the standard application form on the ACPE website, www.acpe.edu. An application fee of $25 dollars should be submitted with the application made payable to, “Saint Vincent Hospital Chapel.” Unit fee is $500 per unit also payable to “Saint Vincent Hospital Chapel.”

Click here to read our annual notice regarding student records

Saint Vincent Hospital conducts one Extended Unit each year.

• The extended program entails a sixteen hour/week commitment and runs from late September through mid-April of the following year. Training times and coverage times are negotiated with the group before the unit begins.
• The program includes required on-call coverage on weekends. 

For more information or to submit an application contact:

Rev. John Weagraff, Psy.D., Ph.D.
Pastoral Care Department
Saint Vincent Hospital 
123 Summer Street
Worcester, MA 01608
(508) 363-7012