Clinical Pastoral Education

Program description

The Lankenau Medical Center (LMC) Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Program offers Level IA-IIB Extended and Summer Unit programs.

For a 400-hour accredited unit, the 100 required hours of structured small-group-process education take place at LMC in-person and/or virtually.

The 300 required clinical and spiritual care coverage hours can take place at any of our Main Line Health (MLH) hospitals: LMC, Paoli Hospital, Riddle Hospital, Bryn Mawr Hospital and Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital.

Tuition for each unit is $650 for first-time CPE students and $500 for returning CPE students. There is no application fee.

Note: Our program is highly competitive and slots fill up quickly. We receive applications on a rolling basis and we do not interview all candidates. We receive many more applications than we have availability in each CPE Unit program. We recommend applying a year in advance for a specific program.

Upcoming CPE Unit programs:

• Fall-Spring 2025-2026 Extended Units: Programs are filled and enrollment is closed.
• The 2026 Summer Intensive Unit, May 27-August 7: Enrollment is open; applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
  This Unit will be co-taught and co-supervised by ACPE Certified Educators Lynne Mikulak and Jack Geracci. Priority is given to seminarians who are required to take Summer CPE. This is a 10-and-a-half week full-time (40 hours per week) program.
• The 2026-2027 Extended 42-week Unit, September 19, 2026-July 9, 2027: Enrollment is open; applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
  This Unit will be supervised by ACPE Certified Educator Lynne Mikulak, with clinical placements at Lankenau Medical Center, Riddle Hospital, Bryn Mawr Hospital, or Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital. Group education time and location (in-person, virtual or hybrid) will be decided upon by group consensus of enrolled students, 30 3.5-hour classes throughout the 42 weeks; with an average of six hours per week of spiritual care to patients and families at the assigned clinical site. This unit provides flexibility for seminarians, those engaged in full-time work, local clergy and religious lay leaders, and ordination-track candidates.
• The 2026-2027 Extended 32-week Unit, October-May (exact dates TBA): Enrollment is open; applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
  Group education will be virtual on Wednesday evenings for 3.5 hours per class, with all clinical-spiritual care placement at Paoli Hospital, for an average of eight hours per week. This Unit will be supervised by ACPE Certified Educator Jack Geracci.

Our educational values and methodologies

We offer a constructive, experiential, and relational-model program that emphasizes a Culture of Safety for students. Our approach aligns with MLH’s Diversity, Respect, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, fostering a positive hospital environment where students can learn and provide compassionate spiritual care.

Our diverse Spiritual Care team at all MLH hospitals are professional chaplains, many of whom are designated as ACPE Preceptors who can offer supportive guidance and mentorship while students are engaged in their clinical and spiritual care coverage, which can begin at 8:00 AM and end at 8:00 PM for floor and duty-pager coverage at all MLH hospitals. These hours are established in collaboration with the Spiritual Care Managers and Coordinators at each hospital, with seven-day-a-week coverage opportunities, and designed to be conducive with learning goals and work-life balance. There is no overnight on-call (onsite or from home) for CPE students at MLH hospitals.

Through curricular learning based upon the ACPE Outcomes and Indicators, CPE students focus their compassionate care with patients, families and staff while developing and utilizing key skill sets:

• Empathetic and narrative listening, presence and meaning-making
• Prayer, ritual and sacramental support as assessed, and for patients and families of any spiritual orienting system, religious and cultural backgrounds
• Electronic medical record documentation, working in collaboration and in dialogue with Spiritual Care, medical teams, Social Work and patient support services
• Supporting families in end-of-life and ethical decision-making, grief and trauma-informed care
• Community collaboration with local spiritual and religious leaders

Our ACPE Certified Educators:

• Rev. Lynne Mikulak, MDiv, MSW, APC BCC
  Manager of Clinical Pastoral Education

• Jack Geracci, MDiv, APC BCC, Certified Spiritual Director
  ACPE Certified Educator, supervising Paoli Hospital CPE students

How to apply and contact us:

You may apply for the listed programs by first downloading the application form from the ACPE website, and emailing the two-page face sheet and essays directly to MikulakL@mlhs.org, or send through U.S. Postal Services to:

Rev. Lynne Mikulak, Manager of Clinical Pastoral Education
Lankenau Medical Center
100 East Lancaster Ave., Suite 114, MOB West
Wynnewood, PA 19096

Call Rev. Mikulak at 484.476.2029 for more information.