Southern Illinois University School of Medicine

The SIU fellowship in forensic psychiatry is designed to provide the fellow with rich and diverse experience and training in both the practical and theoretical dimensions of forensic psychiatry. The main training site is the maximum security hospital for the State of Illinois, Chester Mental Health Center. Off-site training at Alton Forensic Center, Menard Correctional Center, Southern Illinois Behavioral Services, and the SIU School of Law, further ensures a well rounded training experience. Didactic programs include a comprehensive year long seminar in clinical forensic psychiatry, a seminar on landmark cases in mental health law, and a program in mental health law at the SIU School of Law specifically tailored to the educational needs of a forensic fellow. The fellow will serve as assistant director of the forensic psychiatry seminar for general residents and will be encouraged to participate in teaching both residents and students.

The fellow is closely supervised and yet has ample, direct forensic training experiences. Faculty consists of seven forensic psychiatrists, two forensic psychologists, two law professors, and a number of subject matter experts of diverse disciplines.

The mental health law program consists of several different formats capitalizing on the law school’s courses already established and incorporating reading seminars with individual faculty members. The resident will access and utilize legal databases on the internationally operated SIU School of Law web site. Occasionally, teleconferencing will be utilized as well. The fellow will serve as an expert witness during law school classes on advocacy and trial preparation.

A research or scholar project is required.