Rate My Professor Kelsey White

Kelsey White, Ph.D., BCC, is an Assistant Professor and Chaplaincy Faculty Researcher in the Department of Patient Counseling at Virginia Commonwealth University’s College of Health Professions, where she has served since 2022. She also held the position of Interim Director of Education from 2023 to 2024. White earned her Ph.D. in Public Health Sciences, specializing in Health Management and Systems Sciences with a focus on Health Services Research and Organizational Theory, from the University of Louisville in 2021; her dissertation titled "Hospital-based Professional Spiritual Care: Evaluating the Utilization, Availability & Impact of Chaplains." She also holds an M.Sc. in Clinical Investigation Sciences from the University of Louisville (2018), an M.Div. in Pastoral Ministry and Theology from Union Theological Seminary (2009), and a B.A. in Religion with a Mathematics minor from Transylvania University (2006). A board-certified chaplain since 2013, her career history includes staff chaplain at Norton Healthcare in Louisville, KY (2015–2021), SPARC Program Manager and outpatient chaplain at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (2014–2015), outpatient staff chaplain at University of Alabama at Birmingham Medicine (2012–2014), and chaplain resident at University of Louisville Hospital (2011).

White’s research specializations center on professional spiritual care and chaplaincy in healthcare, including chaplain utilization, staffing, scope of service, and integration into community health initiatives. Notable publications include “Provision of chaplaincy services in U.S. hospitals: A strategic conformity perspective” (Health Care Management Review, 2023), “Supporting staff: The role of health care chaplains” (Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 2022), “Chaplain staffing and scope of service: Benchmarking spiritual care departments” (Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 2022), “Examining factors associated with utilization of chaplains in the acute care setting” (Journal of Religion & Health, 2022), and “The influence of patient and provider religious and spiritual beliefs on treatment decision-making in the cancer care context” (Medical Decision Making, 2022). She has secured awards and fellowships such as the Transforming Chaplaincy Research Fellowship (2016–2019, John Templeton Foundation and Rush University), Delta Omega Beta Phi Public Health Honorary (2018), National Science Foundation Center for Health Organization Transformation Student Poster Winner (2019), and ACPE Foundation Innovative Program Award (2017–2018). White contributes to the field through presentations at the American College of Healthcare Executives Congress on the business case for spiritual care and the Association of Professional Chaplains conference, and leads grants like Spiritual Care Services in Community Health Initiatives (2023–2025).