Malcolm Marler, D. Min., director of the Department of Pastoral Care, says plans are under way to restart the Clinical Pastoral Education Program (CPE) for training new chaplains in 2010.

“We believe we should be a teaching department just like the majority of other departments at UAB,” Marler says.

“I think it’s important to have residents and students be a part of our pastoral care team and for us to have the opportunity to mentor and train.”

A CPE supervisor will be hired in the first quarter of 2010, and the program will launch as soon as possible.
He says summer is the targeted start date.

Marler says UAB is the ideal training and learning grounds for clinical pastoral education because of the diversity of the people served and the specialties here on campus. The additional number of chaplains the program will provide also will be a benefit to staff, patients and their families.

“We want to have students and residents here so they can help more of our families and employees get the support that they need,” Marler says. “But we also want to expand the department so we can reach out to the people when it’s needed most.”

CPE students will have regular didactic and teaching sessions in which they learn how to respond to the needs of employees and families.

“CPE students and residents would provide some of the same services that our chaplains do, and that is supporting people in critical times emotionally and spiritually,” Marler says. “They’ll be trained to help people regardless of the faith background a patient might have — Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or none.”

The CPE Program will be an accredited program. Contact Marler for more information at 934-3936 or mmarler@uab.edu.