Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, Forensic Psychiatric Fellowship

Program Description: The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is accepting applications for a new Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship program for the 2021-2022 academic year. The one-year training program will include forensic experiences in multiple settings, as well as didactics addressing legal concepts, landmark cases, and ethical issues.
Featured training sites within the program will include Stein Forensic Hospital, Clark County Detention Center, the Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services Assisted Outpatient Treatment program, and a private practice component. Through these sites, the fellow will learn to write competency evaluations and risk assessments, as well as follow patients in an outpatient, court-ordered civil commitment program. In addition, the fellow will gain familiarity with testifying in court (civil and criminal) and learn to manage psychiatric care for acute and chronically ill patients in a correctional environment.
The fellow will have teaching and leadership opportunities as they work with general psychiatry residents and medical students. In addition, the fellow will also benefit from the many other academic disciplines associated with UNLV, such as the William S. Boyd School of Law and the Department of Psychology.
The fellow will find that Las Vegas provides a unique setting to study forensic psychiatry, as the city regularly draws visitors from across the country and world. The city has long been associated with impulsivity due to association with gambling and the Las Vegas Strip. Patients in the Las Vegas metropolitan area come from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds and represent an array of pathologies and legal issues of varying severities.

Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, Michigan State University, Michigan State University Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship

As the third-largest free standing behavioral health facility in the nation, Pine Rest provides an excellent opportunity to train forensic fellows. In addition to generally taught didactics, fellows will have the opportunity to practice in a correctional facility, to participate in IME’s, risk assessments, FAA and pre-employment evaluations in the Pine Rest Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology Services unit, and to provide capacity consultations at Pine Rest and Corewell Health hospitals. Fellows are Michigan State University Faculty, and receive all benefits and opportunities that the university has to offer, in addition to the full support and unique training experience of practicing and learning in a free-standing psychiatric hospital.

Located in Grand Rapids, MI, Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services is the third-largest free-standing behavioral health facility in the nation. The campus hosts a 198-bed inpatient facility, partial hospitalization services, telepsychiatry, and a Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology Services unit, in addition to partnerships with local medical hospitals for consultation experiences.

HMH Jersey Shore University Medical Center/Ocean University Medical Center, Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program

The Department of Psychiatry at Ocean University Medical Center (OUMC) offers a one year ACGME Accredited Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program. With the six core competencies established by the ACGME in mind, the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship program has been designed to provide a comprehensive and innovative clinical environment. Fellows will learn to work individually and in interdisciplinary teams with patients, and with a variety of systems of care; how to approach cases through a developmental lens; and so much more!

Oklahoma State University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

The Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship in partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services provides an extensive one-year training in both civil and criminal forensic psychiatry. The teaching staff consists of two forensic psychiatrists, one forensic psychologist, one attorney who is also a clinical psychologist, one forensic neuropsychologist, and one child and adolescent psychiatrist.

The forensic fellows receive their clinical training at Oklahoma Forensic Center providing patient care for those previously adjudicated Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity/Mental Illness as well as patients receiving competency to stand trial restoration. The fellows will conduct regular forensic evaluations, including both adjudicative competence and violence risk assessments, through the Oklahoma Forensic Center. Fellows will also perform legally complex forensic psychiatry consultations through Tulsa Center for Behavioral Health and Oklahoma State University Medical Center. Additionally, fellows will have the opportunity to work with legal counsel performing forensic psychiatric consultation services.

The weekly forensic psychiatry didactic courses include a Landmark Case Seminar, a Forensic Case Seminar (covering criminal, civil, adult and juvenile cases), a Forensic Topics Didactic Seminar, and a Forensic Psychological Testing/Research Seminar. Extensive supervision is provided in forensic report writing and testifying in legal settings. In addition, fellows are trained to administer, score, and testify on a range of structured assessment instruments including the assessment of general and sexual violence risk, malingering of psychosis, traumatic reactions, and cognitive impairment, competency to stand trial, and juvenile competency and risk assessment.

Apart from annual stipend and benefits, program benefits also include a fully paid trip to attend the annual meeting of AAPL and the three day review course immediately preceding the meeting.

Baylor College of Medicine

The Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship at the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine is a full-time one-year training program that accepts two fellows per year. Our program is an Accreditation Council of Graduation Medical Education accredited fellowship. Fellows will receive thorough training in civil, criminal, correctional/carceral, and other legal aspects related to the practice of forensic and general psychiatry. This training will be through seminars learning the theory, law, and background for practicing psychiatry while learning and demonstrating the practical clinical and consultative skills inherent to expert forensic psychiatric practice. Additionally, fellows will learn skills related to advocacy and public policy. By the end of training, fellows will be well equipped to practice forensic psychiatry at the highest level and prepared to successfully pass the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology’s Forensic Psychiatry certification exam.
Our program’s mission is to train exceptional forensic psychiatrists that provide high-quality care to a diverse patient population, particularly those who are underserved or incarcerated, and that embody high standards of ethics, leadership, scholarship, and professionalism. We intend for our fellows to become physician leaders who excel in the interface between psychiatry and the law with an eye towards advancing the cause of forensic psychiatry, and psychiatry as a whole, in Texas and the larger United States.
Seminars will cover a variety of civil and criminal forensic psychiatry topics, a landmark case series, mock trial, and health equity series. Residents will rotate at multiple sites, including the Harris County Jail, the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, the Menninger Clinic, and the Baylor Psychiatry Clinic. Fellows will also have the opportunity to volunteer with the local chapter of Physicians for Human Rights. The faculty include 5 ABPN board-certified forensic psychiatrists, multiple of whom have extensive experience working with residents. Fringe benefits include paid support for the annual meeting of AAPL, the AAPL Forensic Psychiatry Review Course, and additional educational funds.

John S. Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center at UTHealth Houston

The Louis A. Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UTHealth Houston at McGovern Medical School offers an ACGME-accredited one-year, full-time Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program designed to cultivate expertise in forensic psychiatry. Recognized as a subspecialty by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN), our program offers world-class training at the intersection of mental health and the law, which covers civil, criminal, and administrative law, as well as the evaluation and specialized treatment of individuals involved with the legal system, including those in jails, participating in the sex offender clinic and forensic psychiatric hospitals. Through a combination of a comprehensive didactic curriculum and supervised clinical experiences, fellows gain proficiency in all aspects of forensic psychiatry, learning to provide expert services in civil and criminal forensic evaluations to enhance the understanding of psychiatric treatment principles within forensic settings.
The program is partnering with Rice University’s Department of Bioethics to provide a shared experience of bioethics with the graduate students of the Medical Humanities Program. The classes are led by Dr. Samuel Reis-Dennis, Assistant professor of the Department of Philosophy, Director of Graduate Studies, and Assistant Professor for the Medical Humanities Program at Rice University.

University of California, San Diego, UCSD

RECENT CHANGE: The University of California-San Diego forensic fellowship is a new program and looking for candidates interested in sharing the launching. The final set-up of the program has changed and is still in negotiation. The portion of the program already confirmed will be structured as several one day or half day components while located at the sponsoring institution, University of California in San Diego. It is designed to pair with a state hospital rotation so as to result in a full well-rounded year. The fellow will spend time at Juvenile Forensics (San Diego County). There is a Navy rotation which will include treatment of female offenders in a brig, sex offender treatment groups and military forensic evaluations. The fellow will rotate on the UCSD medical center consult service to gain experience in competency regarding treatment, guardianship, involuntary hospitalization, forensic geriatric issues and neuropsychological testing in forensic matters. Pretrial criminal evaluations from court appointment or the Public Defender’s office will include the opportunity for the fellow to do reports and testimony, with the supervision of a senior forensic board certified member of UCSD faculty. There is provision for mentoring experience in the community with private practice forensic psychiatrists who do civil work. The fellow will be able to audit classes at the University of San Diego Law School.
The fellow will be given time to work on the required scholarly project. Didactics and seminars conducted with full range of criminal, civil, and legal regulation of psychiatry topics throughout the entire year. Some optional experiences may be arranged especially for the child-trained applicant.

Northwestern University

The one-year, full-time, ACGME-accredited Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program offers training in law and psychiatry and is designed to develop proficiency in all aspects of forensic psychiatric practice, including didactic study and supervised clinical experiences. The goal of the program is to enable forensic fellow(s) to understand and effectively interface with the legal system and to provide ethical, quality, and timely professional expert services in a wide variety of civil and criminal forensic evaluations. We aim to work with fellows to develop an area of special interest within forensic psychiatry during the fellowship year, and tailor the experience to the individual interests and career goals of each fellow. Unique features of our fellowship include that fellows participate in complex civil and criminal forensic cases in the faculty practice; fellows get frequent testimony experience in mental health court; we have a strong focus on child, adolescent, and parenting issues; fellows are able to apply for the Cavanaugh Fellow with research mentorship and funding from the Isaac Ray Research Program; current and former fellows and division faculty meet monthly for forensic journal club; our didactic curriculum is led by a JD with expertise in mental health law; and we have a large number of forensic psychiatrists and psychologists on faculty so fellows have the opportunity to learn from a diverse group of forensic experts.

Ohio State University, Fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry

The Ohio State University offers an ACGME approved fellowship in forensic psychiatry. In conjunction with Ohio’s only maximum security forensic hospital at Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare and the world renowned Nationwide Children’s Hospital, this fellowship offers specialized training in the intersection of psychiatry and the law. Fellows will have the unique opportunity to be involved in many different aspects of forensic patients’ assessment and evaluation. Fellows will aid in evaluation of defendants’ competency and sanity at the time of the act both in jail and hospital settings. Treatment opportunities will be available in the maximum security forensic unit as well as on an outpatient basis for mentally ill offenders who have worked their way through the hospital system. Juvenile evaluations will consist of both bind-over to adult court and recommendations to the court for treatment. Civil cases will include a mix of fitness for duty, disability, malpractice, and consults to other physicians on challenging patients. Additionally, there are opportunities for interested fellows to become involved in advocacy and policy matters at the state level through the Ohio Department of Mental Health also located in Columbus.

University of Iowa

This accredited fellowship uses resources from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, University of Iowa Law School, Iowa Department of Corrections, and Iowa City Veterans Administration Hospital. The University of Iowa Department of Psychiatry is a dynamic clinical, research, and training program with active Grand Rounds, Research Rounds, and recurring Case Conferences. Iowa City is a culturally diverse and accessible area, consistently ranked among the top ten cities in the United States.

Clinical experiences allow the fellow to conduct pretrial criminal evaluations, rotate through subspecialty neurology clinics, provide forensic psychiatry consultation, assist in the preparation of civil cases, and provide treatment to a small number of incarcerated and community offenders using telepsychiatry and traditional services. Research is strongly supported and encouraged.

The curriculum is a blend of didactic experiences and seminar based courses. It includes reading landmark cases, understanding the role of an expert witness in the court system, exploring the history of forensic psychiatry, discovering the complexities of legal systems, examining issues in juvenile justice and family court, and presenting various topics in criminal and civil forensic psychiatry. Fellows may serve as experts in mock trials at the University of Iowa Law School.