Program Description
Program Description
The program of study is designed to benefit both Board Certified and non-board certified chaplains working or preparing to work as palliative care chaplains as well as other health care providers interested in the importance of spirituality as an essential domain of palliative care. For Board Certified Chaplains, the coursework is specifically designed to support learning towards developing the competencies required to apply for specialty certification by their professional association.
The curriculum builds essential knowledge base for professionals who deliver spiritual care, in a palliative care context, to improve the quality of care delivered to patients and families and meet accreditation requirements for expertise in the area. The coursework is a fully online, text based program, delivered in a continuously available and easily accessible format that allows chaplains greater flexibility in balancing work responsibilities with furthering their education.
The program comprised of the following nine individual modules developed by experts in the palliative care. The program will be taught by Gary E. Myers, Ph.D., M.Div., Deputy Director, Continuing and Professional Studies at HealthCare Chaplaincy.
- Module One: History and Philosophy of Palliative Care
- Module Two: Spiritual, Existential and Emotional Issues
- Module Three: Family Systems and Group Facilitation
- Module Four: Ethics and Common Palliative Care Issues
- Module Five: Social and Cultural Influences on Palliative Care
- Module Six: Chaplain Leadership as Mentorship
- Module Seven: Ethical/Critical Reasoning Using Cases
- Module Eight: Professional Wellness While Working in Palliative Care
- Module Nine: Palliative Care, Science and Religion Together
Participants will be expected to complete one module each week, with the entire program taking a total of nine weeks. The program is asynchronous, which allows participants to complete the coursework on their own time with assignments due at the end of each week. Participants may expect to spend 8 to 10 hours a week on the reading and assignments for the course.
Course work includes activities designed to enhance learning through questions/answer sessions, interactive case studies, opportunities for students to apply knowledge in virtual palliative care contexts, and the ability to interact with fellow participants in an online community cohort.
All participants that proficiently complete the coursework will receive a certificate of completion from the California State University Institute for Palliative Care at Cal State San Marcos and HealthCare Chaplaincy.
Prerequisites
The program of study is designed to benefit both Board Certified and Non-Board Certified chaplains working as, or preparing to work as, palliative care chaplains, as well as other spiritual care and health care providers involved in or interested in spirituality in the field of palliative care.
While there are no formal pre-requisites for taking this program, enrollees are encouraged to have prior experience with or exposure to spiritual care in a health care setting.
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