Elyse Berry, D.Min., GRE ’18, has secured a Fellowship in Advanced Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine, making her the first chaplain to be selected in the history of the program.
The prestigious fellowship, which is run through the Center for Biomedical Ethics (CBME), is one of the most established continuous clinical ethics training programs in the U.S. Berry, a chaplain in the Spiritual Care Department at the Cleveland Clinic, said that her theological background was of particular interest to the application committee, who felt that her expertise in ministry and spiritual care would be an asset.
Rev. Elyse Berry, GRE ’18
“I’ll be able to focus on my interests in support staff experiencing moral distress and plan to create new programming around this issue,” said Berry, who will be working at a trauma-focused Cleveland hospital that provides medical care to incarcerated individuals and children in foster care.
“I’ll also be collaborating with [Case Western] in their research working with local clergy members on education around healthcare disparities, as well as interviewing congregations’ family members who have had traumatic or emotionally difficult experiences making end-of-life decisions for their loved ones so that we can learn how to better support families in these trying situations.”
The fellowship represents a partnership among the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, MetroHealth System, the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, and Case Western Reserve University.
Read more about Berry in her Fordham News feature, and learn more about GRE’s Doctor of Ministry degree.
