Louisiana State University – New Orleans

The Forensic Psychiatry Residency Program of the LSUHSC Division of Law and Psychiatry offers a wide range of didactic and clinical forensic experiences over a 12-month period. A part-time residency over a 2-year period is sometimes available. Residents receive training in the following locations: LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, Division of Law and Psychiatry Clinic; Medical Center of Louisiana at Charity Hospital in New Orleans; The State Office of Mental Health; Loyola Law School in New Orleans; The Juvenile Corrections Program at LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans; Child Custody Clinics; Southeast Louisiana State Hospital in Mandeville; Forensic Aftercare Clinic in New Orleans; and the St. Charles Parish Correctional Center.

Resident Experiences
Performing criminal and civil evaluations such as assessment of competency to stand trial, not guilty by reason of insanity, violence risk, child custody, posttraumatic stress disorder, sexual harassment, intentional/negligent infliction of emotional distress, fitness for duty, disability, interdiction, and other core forensic issues in adults and juveniles.

Also, writing comprehensive forensic reports; collaboration and consultation with Loyola Law School faculty and students at the Loyola Law School Clinic, attending some law school classes and learning to use the law library; giving testimony in Court, depositions, and/or mock trial experiences; correctional evaluations and treatment; Landmark Case conference taught by an attorney; didactics in Forensic theory and practice; forensic consultation to the LSU General Psychiatry Consultation team at Medical Center of Louisiana and consultation to state and local mental health facilities; training in child custody evaluations; training in legal rights education techniques to restore Competency to Stand Trial; training in Juvenile Forensic Psychiatry in juvenile detention centers and via telemedicine through the Juvenile Corrections Program; and education in experimental design and statistical principles as applied to social sciences research. Residents are required to write a paper and present a Forensic topic at the LSUHSC Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds; experience and education in the practice of administrative and clinical Forensic Psychiatry at both state and local levels; and teach medical students and General Psychiatry residents.

The Division has an enthusiastic and diverse group of supervisors and faculty. Clinical and full-time faculty includes Forensic, Child, Adult, and Geriatric psychiatrists, neurologists, psychologists, Forensic psychologists, Judges, attorneys, and government officials. The Division provides funds for the residents’ participation in the Forensic Board Review Course and the annual meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.