Clinical Pastoral Education Programs

Description of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)

CPE at UCLA Health offers the opportunity to develop important clinical skills for professional ministry while developing as an effective and soulful spiritual care provider. CPE utilizes an experience-reflection model of education, where students function as hospital chaplains assigned to multidisciplinary patient-care teams and patient medical units. Through group and individual supervision, case presentations, lectures and spiritual reflections, students synthesize their own spiritual foundations and theological education with spiritual teachings of other traditions, along with key tenets of psychology, counseling and clinical skill development, in order to enhance their capacity for professional ministry. Small groups provide a safe and supportive atmosphere to explore learning opportunities and to mutually grow in self-understanding and competence. Students in our programs also serve as on-call emergency chaplains for our hospitals and are given opportunities to provide leadership for interfaith prayer services and occasional ecumenical services, all as components of our curriculum. CPE is a unique experience that combines patient interactions with peer reflection and thoughtful, sensitive guidance, in order to further develop the art of professional ministry. A unit of CPE consists of a minimum of 400 hour commitment, combining study, clinical experiences, emergency on-call coverage, group interaction and individual supervision.

CPE at UCLA Health

The Spiritual Care Department of UCLA Health offers all levels of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). Our programs are designed to provide different options to meet individual needs for clinical theological education for spiritual care ministry. All of our programs are accredited by ACPE: The Standard For Spiritual Care & Education in accordance with the ACPE Standards.

We offer the following levels of CPE training at UCLA Health:

Level IA CPE serves as an introduction to the specialized field of Spiritual Care.
Level IB CPE explores the foundational principles of Spiritual Care.
Level IIA CPE focuses on developing intermediate skills in Spiritual Care.
Level IIB CPE focuses on the clinical practice of Spiritual Care.

Some students, after completing several units of ACPE certified CPE, choose to enroll in Educator CPE working toward certification as an ACPE Certified Educator. In Educator CPE the student learns the theory and practice of education and has an experience of educating CPE students under the guidance and with the consultation of an ACPE Certified Educator.

Admission Requirements

Formal Requirements for Admission to CPE Residency Programs include, but are not limited to:

A completed ACPE application accompanied by the application fee
An admissions interview
Undergraduate degree from the CHEA-member organization with concentration in theology/religious studies and/or master’s degree with concentration in theology/religious studies from a CHEA-member organization or equivalent (completed or in process) preferred
Ordination and/or commission by a faith community, where applicable, preferred
A minimum of one unit of previous ACPE Certified CPE^TMor equivalency, as determined by the Director of Spiritual Care Department
Student's and Educator's Final Evaluations from any prior CPE (if applicable)
A signed Use of Clinical Materials Consent Form
Acceptance into a CPE program and payment of the nonrefundable deposit
Payment of tuition fees during the first week of the program

Formal Requirements for Admission to CPE Internship Programs include, but are not limited to:

A completed ACPE application accompanied by the application fee
An admissions interview
Undergraduate degree from the CHEA-member organization with concentration in theology/religious studies and/or master’s degree with concentration in theology/religious studies from a CHEA-member organization or equivalent (completed or in process) preferred
Ordination and/or commission by a faith community preferred, where applicable
Student's and Educator's Final Evaluations from any prior CPE (if applicable)
A signed Use of Clinical Materials Consent Form
Acceptance into a CPE program and payment of the nonrefundable deposit
Payment of tuition fees during the first week of the program

Certified Educator CPE

Certified Educator CPE training is available to qualified applicants as openings occur. Position openings are posted as they occur.

How to Apply

Please download the ACPE standard CPE Application form. There is no page-length requirement or limit to the application's essay questions, but most applications are no more than seven pages total. Along with your written application, please include the application processing fee of $30 (nonrefundable) in U.S. currency by money order, cashier's check or personal check made payable to: UC Regents/Spiritual Care.

Mail Applications Materials to:

UCLA Spiritual Care
BOX 951733
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1733

Or, you may email applications to: [email protected]. If you send your application by email, please send application fee of $30 to the above address so that your application can be processed.

Interview Information

For our CPE programs, we first review applicants' written application materials and we interview those who are selected for the interview stage of our selection process. We conduct a Zoom interview with the ACPE certified supervisors at UCLA Health. Should you be selected for the interview, we will contact you to schedule one.

Deposit and Tuition for CPE programs at all sites

Tuition is $500 per unit of CPE.

If accepted into an internship program at either full-time or extended (part-time), a nonrefundable deposit of $150, which will be applied to tuition, is required to hold a space in the program.

If accepted into a residency program, a nonrefundable deposit of $200 is required to hold a space in the program. We offer a full tuition scholarship for a one-year commitment to the Residency or Supervisory CPE Programs.

The Supervisory Staff

Chaplain Blake Arnall is the system director of Spiritual Care and works at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center. He is an ACPE Certified Educator and a commissioned minister with the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). He holds a BFA from Art Center College of Design and a Master of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. He is a member of the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC) and has been a Board Certified Chaplain since 2007. He completed his ACPE Certified Educator training at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. He has experience providing chaplaincy care to oncology, transplant and psychiatric patients and their family members. He has served on palliative care teams and ethics committees for over 10 years. Prior to joining UCLA Health, he was the manager of Pastoral Education at Methodist Hospital of Southern California in Arcadia, California.

Rev. Keith W. Wakefield is the manager for CPE Programs. He is an ACPE Certified Educator and an Ordained Minister in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. He completed four units of CPE before doing another CPE Residency at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in 2016-2017. He completed his ACPE Certified Educator training at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Colorado. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Southern Adventist University (2004), a Master of Divinity from the Seventh-Day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University (2013) and earned his “Postgraduate Certificate in Research Methods in Health Practice” from the University of Bath (2023). He is the author of "Stay with Me, I Want to Be Alone: A Chaplain's Search for Meaning," a book about what it is like to be a chaplain. Keith has chaplaincy experience in medical intensive care units, burn, surgical-trauma, cardiology, psychiatry and oncology among other general medicine units. Prior to joining UCLA Health, Keith was a CPE Educator at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland and then at Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto, California.

Ven. Moogoo Bark is a Certified Educator Student. She earned a master’s degree in Buddhist Psychology Counseling in 2012 from Dongguk University in Korea. After coming to the United States, she completed a Master of Divinity degree in 2016 and a Doctor of Buddhist Ministry degree in 2024, both from the University of the West. She completed four units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She is a member of the Association of Professional Chaplains and has been a Board Certified Chaplain since 2021. Ven. Bark has chaplaincy experience in medical intensive care units (MICU), cardiology, oncology and other general medicine units. She has also served on an ethics committee for five years.

UCLA Health CPE Placement Sites

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (Westwood)
Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital (Westwood/Mid-Wilshire)
UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center (Santa Monica)
UCLA West Valley Medical Center (West Hills)

CPE Within UCLA Health

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is the cornerstone of the UCLA Health's network of health care facilities. Licensed for 530 beds, it is a world-renowned teaching and acute care facility where treatment is provided for a full range of medical conditions from neonatal care to geriatric medicine. In addition, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is one of the world's largest organ transplant centers and one of the nation's leading hospitals for bone marrow transplantation. There are specialized intensive care units, state-of-the-art operating suites, a Level I Trauma Center and a comprehensive oncology department. It is rated the best medical center in the West. Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center also includes:

UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital, which is located on two floors of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and holds 90 of its 520 beds. It offers a full spectrum of primary and specialized care for infants, children and adolescents. In addition to a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and a Level III Neonatal ICU, there are more than 20 specialty services, including hematology/oncology, neurology, nephrology, cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, gastroenterology, liver transplant, allergy, immunology and pulmonology.
Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA, located on one floor of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, is licensed for 75 of the 520 licensed beds. RNPH is among the world's leading centers for comprehensive patient care, research and education in the fields of mental health, developmental disabilities and neurology. This hospital provides expert evaluation and treatment programs designed for patients suffering from a variety of illness, including depression, childhood and adolescent disorders, seizure disorders, genetic syndromes, schizophrenia, eating disorders, mental/psychological/neurobehavioral problems, psychosomatic illnesses, sleep disorders, autism, alcoholism and drug abuse.

UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center is a community hospital that has served the health care needs of West Los Angeles and Santa Monica since 1926. Today, the Santa Monica campus of UCLA Health encompasses the operations of UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center, Los Angeles Orthopedic Hospital, the UCLA Rape Treatment Center and a unit of UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. The campus provides the full continuum of services, from neonatal intensive care to geriatric medicine, in a welcoming and technologically advanced facility. The Santa Monica campus is a cornerstone of UCLA Health, featuring 281 inpatient beds and providing a holistic, caring, patient-focused environment.

UCLA West Valley Medical Center is a 260-bed acute care hospital providing high-quality, patient-centered care to the western San Fernando Valley and surrounding communities. Formerly known as West Hills Hospital and Medical Center, the facility became part of UCLA Health in 2024 and offers a broad range of specialized services in a modern and technologically advanced setting. Key areas of expertise include 24-hour emergency care with an on-site helipad, the UCLA Health Regional Burn Center, comprehensive heart and vascular services as a Los Angeles County EMS STEMI Receiving Center, advanced surgical services, women’s diagnostic imaging and outpatient wound care. The medical center expands UCLA Health’s ability to provide comprehensive care, from emergency and critical care to specialized medical and surgical treatment, in a patient-focused environment.

The CPE Programs

The Year-Long Residency Program generally begins around the end of August and concludes at the end of August of the next year. CPE residents receive a complement of medical and psychiatric clinical experience. This is a full-time program, 40 hours per week, plus on-call in the evenings and weekends. Residents are paid a stipend of approximately $64,000, which is the total annual compensation including time spent responding to after-hours emergency on-calls. In addition, UCLA will provide residents with medical, dental and vision insurance, paid vacation and holidays and a full tuition scholarship for four units of CPE. Those accepted into the residency program are required to live within a 30-mile radius of the hospital. Successful graduates of the residency program will receive four units of CPE credit.
Certified Educator CPE is available to qualified applicants as openings occur. Position openings are posted as they occur.