FeedbackSpiritual Care Services, Concord
The Clinical Pastoral Education Program at John Muir Medical Center, Concord is accredited by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc.
John Muir Medical Center, Concord, a part of John Muir Health, is located 20 miles east of Berkeley and is near the Concord BART station. John Muir Medical Center, Concord is a community hospital, offering a broad spectrum of medical and surgical specialty services including oncology, cardiology, and Emergency Services.
Near the campus is the Behavioral Health Center, providing child, adolescent, adult and geriatric psychiatry and drug and alcohol recovery services. Typically, there are as many as 150 inpatients and many more outpatients in the care of the chaplains. CPE students are assigned to virtually all areas of the medical center.
Program
We offer a four unit residency program of accredited CPE each year; each unit lasts eleven weeks, and is full-time September through August, Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
Learning is focused on the personal and professional issues in ministry formation and pastoral assessment skills. Our program's particular strengths include a high level of involvement of local religious leaders and a strong sense of community within the medical center. Students are expected to function as the primary spiritual caregivers in the clinical areas, and to participate in all functions of the Department of Spiritual Care.
There are two levels of CPE offered at John Muir Medical Center, Concord. Level I is for all students who are taking their first unit of CPE. It gives students the opportunity to learn about CPE, make some self-discoveries, take risks in initiating relationships and giving critiques, and identify personal strengths and weaknesses inherent in pastoral functioning. Level II CPE includes developing pastoral reflection, formation, competence, and for some students, pastoral specialization. For further information on CPE, please go to http://www.acpe.edu.
The Community
Patients come to John Muir Medical Center, Concord from nearby cities and outlying areas within Contra Costa County. Long-time residents remember when the hospital was a two-room house surrounded by almond orchards. A diverse array of businesses is located in Concord and its surrounding communities ranging from banking services to oil refineries and petrochemical plants. Social, political, environmental and theological issues are often debated in this community.
Tuition and Stipend
Residents in the year-long program receive a stipend of $32,000 w/ medical insurance reimbursement up to $350 per month and pay no tuition. For students who enroll in single units, there is a tuition cost of $500.00.
Supervisors
Rev. Birte Beuck has served as a chaplain and ACPE Supervisor in various hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area for twelve years. Born and raised in Germany, she is an ordained minister with the Metropolitan Community Churches. Birte studied theology at Humboldt Universität in Berlin, Germany, and at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, where she received an M.A. in Pastoral Care and a Master of Divinity. Birte is a certified supervisor with the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education and a Board Certified Chaplain with the Association of Professional Chaplains. She is also a trained mediator.
Rev. Vera Markovich is a certified supervisor with the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. She has worked as a chaplain and CPE Supervisor in varying health care systems in Seattle, Indianapolis, and the Lehigh Valley. Since September, 2013 she has been with John Muir Health. Vera was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She spent most of her adult life in Vancouver, B.C. prior to moving down to Seattle, WA. Vera has a Masters in Pastoral Studies from Vancouver School of Theology. She was certified as a Pastoral Counselor and used Bowen Family Systems Theory in her clinical practice. She was ordained as an Interfaith Minister at All Faiths Seminary International in New York. In addition to supervising the CPE program, Vera co-chairs the Patient-Care Ethics Committee.
Application and Fees
To apply to the CPE program at John Muir, please access an application form at http://www.acpe.edu/StudentsFAQ.html. Alternatively, you may email your completed application to birte.beuck@johnmuirhealth.com. You may also mail your application to: Spiritual Care c/o John Muir Medical Center, Concord, 2540 East St. Concord, CA 94520. There is a $30 application fee, payable to John Muir Health (please mail a check if applying electronically). Applications for the residency program beginning in September are accepted starting in the fall of the previous year.
