You may find this recent interview with Lifeline Chaplaincy Coordinator and author, Dr. Virgil Fry informative. Virgil has been an important pastoral presence at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, and a colleague of our Chaplaincy Department.

When did you decide to make a career out of hospital chaplaincy?

My experience in Abilene kind of planted the seed. From there, when I finished my degree, I went to Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas and spent a year in a clinical pastoral education program — a post-graduate work if you want to go into professional chaplaincy. So I had that under my belt. Then I was with the Pipeline Road church in Hurst, Texas, as an associate minister for youth and education for about eight years. While I was in Hurst, the churches in Houston began their search for a chaplain, and I was one of the few who had any clinical pastoral education. So, that’s how I ended up here.

You can read the entire interview at The Christian Chronicle.