Clinical Pastoral Training Opportunities at John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek Campus

Since the early nineties, John Muir Pastoral Care Services have offered fieldwork, internship and clinical pastoral education experiences for students from the University of Berkeley's Graduate Theological Union and beyond. Through our program, more than 30 seminarians representing nine different denominational/faith groups and 11 graduate theological schools have met their clinical training requirements for their ordination process and/or degree programs. The program at John Muir is not affiliated with the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education.

The pastoral care training program is structured to provide students with a total interfaith and multicultural pastoral care experience and to allow for working alongside experienced chaplains. John Muir Medial Center offers unique opportunities for pastoral experience and growth. As the Trauma Center for Contra Costa County, the medical center not only handles the trauma care for the County, but also receives trauma cases from surrounding counties as well. The medical center is licensed for 350 beds and has specialty programs in obstetrics, critical care, cancer care, coronary care and orthopedics.

The faculty for the pastoral training program includes staff from medicine, psychiatry, nursing, neuropsychology, social work and administration. Students have ample opportunity for mutual learning with the many community clergy and lay visitors who work closely with our Pastoral Care team. The team at John Muir includes associate chaplains (on-call community clergy), over 100 registered denominational and congregational visitors, a Hispanic Resource team and Stephen Ministers from local congregations. The program is advised by a 15-member interfaith and interdisciplinary Pastoral Care Services Board and strongly supported by John Muir Health and John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek Campus administrations.

Full-time (40 hours a week) and 'extended' programs are offered for the convenience of students who want to do their training concurrently with their studies or employment. We also offer the opportunity to meet intern or deacon-year requirements, either shared with a local congregation or full-time at John Muir. Stipends are available through the Father Carl Gracely Endowment. Information regarding the education, training and supervisory experience of Rev. Dwane Michael, director of Pastoral Care Services, is available by calling (925) 947-5281 or by e-mail at dwane.michael@johnmuirhealth.com.

Director and Supervisor

The Clinical Pastoral Training program is supervised by the Rev. Dwane Michael, M.Div., M.A., director of Pastoral Care Services. Chaplain Michael is a Lutheran (ELCA) pastor, ordained in 1974. He has been endorsed for specialized health care ministry by the ELCA since 1977. Chaplain Michael has been a member of the College of Chaplains, now the Association of Professional Chaplains and a member of the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education since 1973. He is a Clinical member of ACPE. His own CPE training includes work at the Maine Medical Center in Portland; the City of Memphis Hospitals in Memphis, Tennessee; and Herrick Memorial Hospital, Berkeley. In addition to his B.A. and M.Div. work, Chaplain Michael earned a Master of Arts in Religion and Medical Care from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Chaplain Michael has been supervising graduate theological students since 1977, providing teaching and supervision in affiliation with graduate theological schools across the country. Prior to joining John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek Campus, he provided training in affiliation with Berkeley's Graduate Theological Union at Herrick Memorial Hospital in Berkeley, Salem Lutheran Home in Oakland, and Merritt-Peralta Medical Center in Oakland. As director of Chaplaincy Services at Merritt-Peralta, Chaplain Michael, along with ACPE supervisor Rev. Roy Futscher, developed a clinical pastoral education program in affiliation with the ACPE program at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco.

In 1989, Chaplain Michael joined John Muir Medial Center as director of Pastoral Care Services for John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek Campus and with the assistance of the Pastoral Care Services Board soon thereafter began John Muir's Clinical Pastoral Training program. The program at John Muir continues to be supported and advised by an interfaith, multicultural and interdisciplinary Pastoral Care Services Board

A Founder and Assistant Director

The Rev. Canon Carl B. Gracely, who played a primary role in developing our Pastoral Care Services, continues his service as the department's assistant director. Fr. Carl, an Episcopal priest, was a member of the original committee that worked with our administration, medical and nursing staffs in developing the program in the late 1980s. He continues to serve on our Pastoral Care Services Board and provides many hours of patient and family pastoral care.

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