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Clinical Pastoral Education

The Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program at Parkland is Dallas’ longest running spiritual care education program and is one of the most sought-after training environments in the country. We celebrate over 60 years of training persons for a variety of careers in spiritual care, including institutional chaplaincy, religious leadership, non-profit ministries, pastoral counseling, and volunteer ministries. The program is situated within one the busiest county hospitals in the nation and offers a challenging learning environment that will prepare persons well for nearly any potential ministry context.

Accredited by ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education since 1960, our program offers Level I, Level II, and Certified Educator CPE. At this time, our program offerings include: a summer internship from early June to mid-August, a four-unit year-long residency that spans August to August, and Certified Educator CPE that takes two to three years to complete.

We currently offer five summer intern positions with a modest stipend and six resident positions each year, which includes a stipend with benefits. Additionally, we have one Certified Educator CPE fellowship (a minimum of two to three years) that includes a stipend with benefits that are available on a rolling basis. 

Please contact us regarding openings in our Certified Educator CPE program before submitting your application.

Students in our programs will learn about and become proficient in:
  • Developing listening skills that serve as the foundation for performing accurate spiritual assessments
  • Creating a theoretically informed basis for their spiritual care work grounded in their spiritual/religious identity in conversation with cutting-edge behavioral sciences
  • Reading research in spiritual care so that their care is informed by the most recent developments in the discipline
  • Understanding the sociocultural factors that contribute to poverty and homelessness and learning how to utilize specific approaches to spiritual care that take into account a variety of contexts
  • Initiating interdisciplinary relationships around the hospital to better care for the whole person and to offer spiritual and emotional support to medical staff
  • Demonstrating intercultural competency that takes into account the diversity of cultures, religions, spiritualities, and identities that give meaning to persons’ lives
  • Becoming more grounded in self-awareness, self-compassion, and self-authorship through a clear and sober assessment of their strengths and growing edges in ministry


Applicants for the summer internship should have a bachelor’s degree from a nationally accredited institution and have completed at least one year of graduate theological education. Applicants for the extended unit internship should have a bachelor's degree from a nationally accredited institution.

Applicants for the year-long residency program should have completed graduate theological education in theology or related fields. We prefer that applicants have completed an M.Div. or equivalent and one previous unit of ACPE CPE.

Applicants for the Certified Educator CPE program should have completed an M.Div. or equivalent and no fewer than four units of ACPE CPE.

English language proficiency that is adequate to function in the clinical and educational settings is necessary.

ACPE applications can be found here.

Questions and completed applications may be directed to:
Mary Stewart Hall, M.Div., ACPE Certified Educator
Manager, Spiritual Care
5200 Harry Hines Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75235
469-419-0763
marystewart.hall@phhs.org


Statement of Confidentiality and Student Rights

Annual Notice (published in accordance with ACPE Standard 4.d):

This ACPE CPE center/program guarantees to its students the rights to inspect and review education records, to seek to amend them, to specified control over the release of record information, and to file a complaint against the program for alleged violations with ACPE, 1 Concourse Pkwy, Suite 800, Atlanta, GA 30328. 

A student has the right to object to record content. If not negotiable, the written objection will be kept with and released with the record. Grades are exempted from this right.

Violations of these protocols may be reported to the Chair of the Accreditation Commission at: ACPE, 1 Concourse Pkwy, Suite 800, Atlanta, GA 30328.