Clinical Pastoral Education
at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and Rainbow Hospice, Inc.

Institutional Context
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital is the major tertiary care and trauma center for northwest suburban Chicago. It is situated just north of O'Hare International Airport in Park Ridge, Illinois.

The hospital was opened in 1959 with a pastoral care department, a CPE program and a commitment to wholistic health care. It was the successor to a hospital established by Norwegian Lutheran Deaconesses in 1897.

Population Served
Lutheran General draws patients from a wide area with considerable diversity. Although the patient population is predominantly Roman Catholic, it also includes a large minority of Protestant Christians, a significant percentage of Jewish patients and a growing number of Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu patients, representing the increasingly growing cosmopolitan make-up of the surrounding community.

Description of Pastoral Care Department
The department currently includes 9 full and 2 half-time chaplains representing diverse faith groups including Jewish, Roman Catholic and various Protestant denominations. There are three stipended resident chaplains and one Rainbow Hospice resident that comprise the resident CPE program at Lutheran General. Currently, the CPE resident at Advocate Good Shepherd is integrated into the CPE resident peer group. The department is overseen by a Vice President of Mission and Spiritual Care who reports directly to the hospital's chief operating officer.

Two unique services of the department include a full-time certified music therapist and a full-time clinical ethicist. Both services have training programs in their respective discipline. Pastoral Care is an integral part of the hospital and is well integrated into the clinical units and the operations of the hospital.

Unique Educational Elements
Lutheran General, as part of the Advocate system CPE Center, offers a full range of programs which include a stipended residency, summer intensive programs, extended programs, and may serve as a site for residency in supervisory education. The annual cycle of programs is usually compatible with the academic schedules of most seminaries so that seminarians may take intensive or extended CPE programs at various times during the year. The extended units accommodate students that cannot take a full-time program. All programs draw on and are coordinated with Advocate system resources.

The system-synchronized CPE resident program features a twelve-month, three-term curriculum. Each four-month term includes a typical 12-week intensive CPE unit followed by a five-week integrative time. The integrative times allows for specialized learning in ministry by way of projects, studies, and/or formal research efforts. The resident curriculum also attends to the consultative and certification needs of those considering professional chaplaincy. Of the four CPE resident positions, three are hospital-based and one position is based in Rainbow Hospice. The Rainbow Hospice resident is primarily engaged in clinical learning and ministry with hospice staff and patients but participates in all group sessions and contributes to on-call coverage at the hospital.

The hospital has always been committed to education. It is affiliated with several area medical schools, including the University of Chicago. CPE students have an opportunity to work along with residents and student interns from other disciplines.

The program at Lutheran General has had extensive experience with international students and first generation immigrants. Our student population has included many from Europe, Asia, India, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Australia.

The setting allows for a variety of clinical experiences in an acute care center. These include medical, surgical, critical care, trauma, cardiology, oncology, pediatrics, obstetrics, psychiatry and substance abuse. All full-time students are assigned to clinical areas and do on-calls. Residents rotate clinical assignments for each of the three, four-month terms of their year-long residency program. They have opportunity to develop evidence-based specialties by way of special projects during integrative periods in each term.

Pertinent Information for Applicants
A non-refundable deposit, applicable to fees, is required to hold a place in any program when the applicant is offered a position.

Students may not begin a program until they have complied with the mandated pre-employment physical exam, drug screening and criminal record background check.

For More Information...
Revs. Rene' Brandt, Revs. Joseph Czolgosz or Rev. Susan Gullickson
Mission and Spiritual Care
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
1775 Dempster Street
Park Ridge, IL 60068
847.723.6395

About Advocate Lutheran General Hospital

Map and Directions

Rainbow Hospice, Inc

HOSPICE RESIDENCY
A metropolitan Chicago leader in end-of-life care, offers a twelve-month residency available to the experienced pastoral care provider who wishes to focus his/her professional and personal development in serving those who live with life-limiting illness. The residency will begin September 1, 2004.

Rainbow Hospice serves as the clinical site for the residency. Clinical pastoral supervision is provided through the Department of Mission and Spiritual Care at Advocate/Lutheran General Hospital. The resident will participate in individual supervision and peer group, as well as some on-call responsibilities, at the Hospital.

At Rainbow Hospice the resident is part of a team which includes a manager for Spiritual Care and Healing Arts, two full-time chaplains, a music therapist, and a PRN chaplain/ethicist. The resident shares responsibility with the Spiritual Care Manager for the spiritual care services provided to patients and families served by one of the interdisciplinary teams. In addition, the resident will also have opportunity to participate in bereavement care and end-of-life education.

Interested applicants must have a Masters of Divinity degree or equivalent seminary degree from a school accredited by the ATS and one CPE unit. Pastoral experience in a parish or health care setting preferred.

Please send completed CPE application to:

The Rev. Joseph Czolgosz, BCC
Chaplain/Educator
Advocate/Lutheran General Hospital
Misson and Spiritual Care
1775 Dempster Street
Park Ridge, IL 60068
(o) 847/723-7333
(fax) 847/723-6667
joseph.czolgosz@advocatehealth.com

For further information about Rainbow Hospice, please contact:

The Rev. John Schumacher, BCC
Manager, Spiritual Care & Healing Arts
Rainbow Hospice
444 North Northwest Highway, Suite 145
Park Ridge, IL 60068
(o) 847/685-9900 x328
(fax) 847/685-6390
jschumacher@rainbowhospice.org