Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center CPE Program

Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center is a 625-bed teaching hospital that serves inner city Phoenix and is a statewide referral for Level I trauma care, high-risk obstetrics, cancer diagnosis and treatment, and pancreas, liver and kidney transplant. The hospital currently shares its campus with the Banner Good Samaritan Rehabilitation Center.  The hospital serves a diverse and multi-cultural population.

Accredited ACPE Center:

Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center
1111 E. McDowell Road
Phoenix, AZ 85006 
Phone (602) 839-4324
Fax (602) 839-2249

• Spiritual Care Department and  ACPE CPE Senior Manager:  Rev. Dr. Adriana P. Cavina
• Administrative Assistant:
  Ramona Yoder - email

CPE Residency:
Begins at the end of August each year and continues through Aug. 31 of the following year.  Credit for three units (1200 hrs.) of Level I and Level II CPE during 12 months.

• Dates for 2013-2014: Sept.1, 2013 - Aug. 31, 2014. Application deadline: March 1, 2013.
• Class Schedule:  CPE classes are held twice a week from 8:00am – 12:30pm.
• Clinical Schedule:  Students are expected to be in the hospital from 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. every day spending time on their assigned floors providing spiritual care when not in class. Clinical time will average 28 hours a week.
• On-Call Responsibilities:  On-call coverage for trauma and hospital emergencies rotates and is negotiated monthly between students and on-call staff. Rotations are in-house 12-hour shifts. A sleep room is provided. On-call spiritual care coverage is 24/7 weekdays, weekends, and holidays. Work hours do not exceed 40 weekly, including both educational and clinical hours.
• CPE Residency Requirements:                       
  One previous Level I ACPE CPE unit
  Bachelor’s degree
  M.Div., M.Th. completed or in progress
  Active membership in a faith group
  Ordination or equivalency to ordination completed or in progress
• Tuition:
  $600 per CPE Residency unit
• Benefits:
  Stipend: $27,040; Banner Health employee benefits (including medical, dental, 401(K) & paid time off); monthly meal credit.

Extended CPE Units:  Extended CPE units are part-time programs designed especially for those students who are employed or enrolled in other educational courses and who can attend CPE only on a part-time basis. Students pursuing certification with the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC), National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC), or National Association of Jewish Chaplains (NAJC) are offered the possibility of  completing four consecutive Extended CPE Units with a comprehensive, sequential Level I and  Level II CPE curriculum. Every unit , whether taken as a single unit or as part of four consecutive units, requires a separate admission process.

• Both Spring-Fall and Fall-Spring Extended Units are six-month long CPE Level I and Level II programs that involve attendance to one weekly evening educational sessions, individual supervision sessions, and 50 monthly hours of clinical work, including participation to the on-call day and night shift rotation.
• Dates for 2013-2015:  
  • Summer-Winter 2013-2014: Aug. 8, 2013.- Jan.30, 2014.  Application deadline: June 15, 2013
  • Winter-Summer 2014: Feb. 20 - July 31, 2014.        Application deadline: December 15, 2013
  • Summer-Winter 2014-2015: Aug.7, 2014 - January 29, 2015. Application deadline: June 15, 2014
• Tuition: $600
• Admission requirements:
  • Bachelor's degree
  • Active membership in a  faith group
  • Theological studies completed or in progress
  • Students pursuing certification as chaplains must have a MDiv., faith group ordination or equivalent, and faith group endorsement

Full-time Intensive Summer CPE Unit: This is a 11-week long Level I CPE unit especially designed for seminarians and other graduate students.

• Students are expected to be in the hospital from 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. everyday. Educational time involves attendance to three morning classes per week and to individual supervision sessions. The rest of the time is spent by students on assigned hospital floors providing spiritual care to patients, families and staff. Clinical time will average 28 hours per week. Students take part in the on-call day and night shift rotation.
• Dates for 2014:   May 27- Aug. 15, 2014. Application deadline:  April 30, 2014.
• Tuition: $600
• Admission requirements:
  • Bachelor's degree
  • Active membership in a faith group 
  • Theological studies completed or in progress

About the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center ACPE CPE Supervisors

The Rev. Dr. Adriana Cavina directs the Spiritual Care department and the ACPE CPE program at BGSMC. She is a Board Certified Chaplain with the Association for Professional Chaplains (APC) and an ACPE Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor. She holds Masters degrees in English Language and Literature, Philosophy, Educational Psychology and Divinity and a Doctorate of Ministry in Multi-Cultural Competencies. A native of Italy, Adriana is one of the first Italian women to have been ordained as Baptist pastor. She is now endorsed by the Alliance of Baptists. Adriana began her work as Clinical Pastoral Education supervisor at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Ariz., where she held the position of director of Spiritual Care from 1998 to 2003. She then joined the Faculty of the Department of Chaplaincy and Pastoral Education at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. from 2003 to 2008. Adriana was certified as an ACPE Supervisor in February 2004. She re-joined Banner Health in 2008.

The Rev. V. Ruth Schulenberg was certified by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc. in November 2003. Professional interests and experiences have included volunteer police chaplaincy with the Pierce Co. (Washington) Sheriff’s Department, children’s and youth ministry, hospital chaplaincy, ministry to international students, and research and writing on topics related to grief and loss.  Her M.Div. thesis (Emmanuel School of Religion, 1995) title was “Pastoral Care of Bereaved Children and Their Families.”  She is ordained and endorsed through the Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. Ruth's hobbies include scrapbooking and other arts/crafts; watching movies, especially foreign and independent films; ballroom dancing; and playing with her two dogs Parker and Pal.  Originally from western Oregon, her education and career have taken her to east Tennessee, western Washington, Philadelphia, southern Colorado, Texas, San Francisco, and, now, Phoenix. Rev. Schulenberg is the Clinical Pastoral Educator at BGSMC.

CPE testimonials from present and former CPE students at Banner Good Samaritan:

"My pastoral visits at BGSMC have allowed me the opportunity to experience several situations; they have been challenging, rewarding, sacred and life giving of the Divine Presence in others."  Carleen Schendzielos, Milwaukee, Wis.

"CPE has challenged me emotionally and spiritually... it has made me a better person and a better minister. Now, I hold the Light of Spirit in a deeper and more loving manner for my patients when they cannot do so because of illness. My contribution to humankind is profound and joyful because of CPE."  The Rev. Jenny Luse, Cave Creek, Ariz.

"I came into the I came to the Residency programme from a Director's position with 18 years of experience in chaplaincy. My concern was how would it be to become a student once again? I have been deeply appreciative of the manner in which my experience has been respected and valued while being held to the learning and emotional challenges of being a student. I can highly recommend this programme to those who while coming with experience nevertheless feel the need for renewal, challenge and  refreshment for new directions."  The Rev. Mark R. Sutherland, London, UK

"Doing CPE is like falling into the hues of many colors. By this I mean, being soaked into the multifaceted nature of CPE. As the program unfolded, I discovered that tin addition to acquiring pastoral skills, CPE is about introspective work about me, my ministry and my interpersonal relationships with those struggling with illness. So far, in this CPE journey of development, the integration of pastoral practice and theological/theoretical understanding has brought me to the interlock between faith/belief or disbelief and the experience of human suffering."  The Rev. Dr. Fidelis Igwenwanne, Mesa, Ariz..