Serving with Sensitivity: Understanding Different Religions in Healthcare

Transform your healthcare chaplaincy with comprehensive interfaith training.

This 10+ hour online course equips individuals with essential knowledge and practical skills to provide compassionate, culturally sensitive pastoral care to patients from diverse religious backgrounds. Through expert video instruction, real-world interviews with experts, and assessments, you'll master how to navigate health crises and end-of-life situations across Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Traditional African Religions, and New Religious Movements.

What You'll Learn:

• Core beliefs, sacred texts, and practices of major world religions
• How different faiths understand illness, healing, and death
• Practical protocols: When to call a rabbi vs. imam, respecting burial timeframes, navigating gender boundaries
• Cultural competencies for South African healthcare contexts, including religious syncretism

Course Includes:

• 5+ hours of video lectures from scholars and chaplains
• 20 quizzes (100 questions total) with explanations
  
• Certificate of Completion 

Perfect for: Hospital chaplains, hospice spiritual care providers, seminary students, church leaders, and healthcare professionals seeking cultural competence.

Learn to serve with respect, listen with compassion, and bridge faiths in moments that matter most.

Online Delivery

This is a fully online short course delivered via Google Classroom. Study from the comfort of your home. Once enrolled, you'll receive a link via email (or find it in your Student Portal on our website) to join the classroom.

Course Structure

Watch each video module. Complete the reflection exercises. Pass the quizzes to progress through the course. If you selected the UP certificate option, submit a final essay.

Course Options

Option 1- R1,100: Includes the HospiVision Certificate of Attendance.

Option 2- R2,100: Includes the HospiVision Certificate AND the University of Pretoria (UP) Certificate of Attendance.

Important Certification Details

To receive the UP certificate, you must successfully complete the required essay. UP certificates are released annually- the cutoff date for the current cycle is October 2026, and certificates for this cycle will be released by March 2027.

Financial Support

Partial funding is available. Please note that the Diaconia bursary covers the R1,100 course fee, and the John Templeton Foundation covers R1000 (HospiVision Certificate). They do not cover the additional cost for the UP certificate and the John Templeton Foundation Scholarship has a R100 registration fee.

Diaconia Bursary- You qualify if you are a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, Calvin Protestant Church, or United Reformed Church.

John Templeton Foundation Scholarship- If you are not a member of the above churches, you may apply for this scholarship.

To apply, select the relevant bursary/scholarship option from the "Payment Method" dropdown at the top of this page and complete the application form via our website.

Enrollment Process

All online short courses must be purchased directly through our website.

EFT (Bank Transfer): Select "EFT" at checkout- your course access will be activated once funds have cleared.

Refund Policy

Unfortunately, we cannot offer refunds for courses not attended, but we can provide a credit note valid for 12 months. You may use it for any of our short courses or transfer it to someone else.

If applying for a bursary, your enrollment will be pending approval of your application.