Working for health: Rev. Catherine F. Garlid, director of spiritual care and clinical pastoral education, Maine Medical Center, Portland
What do you love about your job?
As a hospital chaplain and educator, I love being in a secular, interdisciplinary and diverse environment where no two days and no two people are alike. I love the give and take with medical and other professionals, having the best care of the patient as our focus. I love the privilege of being welcomed into the lives of people in crisis, pain or transition.
Describe a recent on-the-job event or interaction that gave you satisfaction.
It gave me great satisfaction to attend to the sorrow and distress of a group of hospital staff members as their beloved friend and co-worker lost the battle — and it truly was a battle — with her cancer. Not only did they grieve, but they struggled to move ahead with the work at hand without her participation and treasured experience. I was honored to be with them as their team moved forward with this challenge.
How did you get interested in this work?
Partly, it was family legacy. I was raised in a Christian home where religious faith was important and inquiry was encouraged. My father was a doctor who attended seminary for a year to explore the interface between medicine and religion. My grandfather invented the iron lung. Albert Schweitzer was my hero. My two sisters are doctors. I found and still find ministry and chaplaincy to be work that gives me opportunities to use my gifts and respond to the call to serve God in the world.
What kind of training or education did you have to get to do it?
I have a four-year bachelor of arts in music, a three-year master of divinity degree, and a year as a chaplain resident in New York City. Later I did a three-year apprenticeship to learn the art of clinical pastoral education — that is, training clergy, seminarians and others to listen deeply and care for others with faithfulness and sensitivity.
What advice would you give to a high school student who is interested in this work?
My advice to a high school student is to take courses you love and follow your heart in choosing your college major, because you will bring the fullness of who you are to ministry if that is your vocation. Be active in a place of worship, be curious about the world, and volunteer in a hospital to see if you like it.
Other thoughts about your job, your workplace or the field you work in?
One of the most challenging aspects of my field is working in a scientifically driven environment that does not always recognize the importance of the human spirit in the process of healing. Thankfully, I have many colleagues, medical and nonmedical, who share my passion for addressing the needs of the whole person.
Contact Health Editor Meg Haskell at mhaskell@bangordailynews.com if you’d like to be featured in Working for Health.