Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Program
University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health offers a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program through our Spiritual Care services.
About CPE
Clinical Pastoral Education is a foundational chaplaincy training experience that can lead to board certification as a professional chaplain. Professional chaplains are employed in health care, prisons and corporate settings. However, attendees do not need to be pursuing a chaplaincy career to apply. CPE program attendees gain valuable knowledge, personal insights and chaplaincy skills that will enhance their ministry or professional career.
This program is in partnership with the Institute for Clinical Pastoral Training (ICPT), which is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET). ACCET is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency.
Program Schedule
The UM UCH CPE program is a 24-week part-time course that earns the first CPE unit. It is in person 12.5 hours a week, but certain non-clinical requirements may be adapted to an online platform if needed.
The program is taught in 400-hour units: 100 didactic hours and 300 hours of clinical experience per unit. Professional chaplaincy will require four units of CPE: 1600 hours of combined didactic/clinical training.
The first unit of CPE satisfies the clergy requirement for certain Protestant denominations.

Rev. Dr. Thaddeus Siegel, RN, C-CISM, BCC, BCCC, BCPC, CPES-E
Application Information
If you have questions or would like application information, please contact Rev. Dr. Thaddeus Siegel, Director of Spiritual Care Services.
- Email: thaddeus.siegel@umm.edu
- Phone: 443-643-1375