HDS Weighs New Clinical Pastoral Education Program as Hospital Placements Decline

The Harvard Divinity School is considering launching its own Clinical Pastoral Education program after hospital budget cuts sharply reduced training opportunities important for students pursuing chaplaincy.

Associate Dean for Ministry Studies Theodore N. “Teddy” Hickman-Maynard announced last Tuesday that the Office of Ministry Studies is exploring an HDS-administered CPE program, a move prompted by growing student concern over dwindling hospital-based placement.

Those concerns were formalized on Feb. 9, when students delivered a petition to the Master of Divinity faculty committee calling for institutional action.

According to the letter — which was signed by 73 students — local hospitals have significantly scaled back CPE programs. The signatories estimated that Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital — two of the region’s primary healthcare providers — have eliminated between 22 and 28 CPE positions. Other institutions, including senior health center Hebrew SeniorLife, have discontinued residency programs altogether.

CPE is the primary accreditation pathway for chaplaincy, which has become the fastest-growing vocational track at HDS. At least one CPE unit is required for board certification and includes supervised clinical work paired with intensive small-group reflection.

“Establishing an in-house, HDS-sponsored CPE program would be a logical and necessary step to support the student body, streamline professional training, and affirm the school’s leadership in spiritual care,” the petition read.

In an email to students, Hickman-Maynard wrote that an HDS-run program would allow the school to “sponsor and manage our own CPE certification pathway,” reducing reliance on hospital programs while expanding the range of ministry settings available for accredited training.

For some students, the shift feels overdue.

“It’s a long due process that should have happened a long time ago,” said Kien T. Le, a third-year Master of Divinity student who completed a CPE-equivalent program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

“A lot of students do really care about chaplaincy in general, or spiritual care, and the fact that HDS doesn’t have an actual CPE thing itself is strange, so I’m glad that it’s finally happening,” they added.

In a statement, an HDS spokesperson said the school is aware that hospital-based cuts are affecting divinity students nationwide and emphasized collaboration between students and administrators.

“We are united in our desire and commitment to find a solution together,” the spokesperson wrote.

In response to the petition, HDS Dean Marla F. Frederick placed spiritual care and chaplaincy training on the agenda for this year’s Dean’s Forum, the annual gathering of the dean’s advisory council and alumni.

The school has not yet outlined a timeline or concrete plan for establishing an HDS-run CPE program. But students said they were hopeful for what the administration’s response signaled.

“It’s a really hard process to have such limited options in the Boston area for HDS students,” said Alexandra D. Potter, a second-year MDiv student.

“Even if it doesn’t benefit people in my year, I hope it benefits students to come, because that’s the whole point of pushing for initiatives like this,” she added.

—Staff writer Andrew R. Levy can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @andrewlevy312.

—Staff writer Alexandria J. Villasenor can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at ajv.03.