Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship

The fellowship will prepare the fellow to competently function at the interface of psychiatry and the law in both the civil and criminal arenas. Areas of focus include the performance of civil and criminal forensic psychiatry assessments, consultations to attorneys and agencies, testimony in deposition and trial, evaluation and treatment of mentally disordered juveniles and adults involved in a variety of legal settings such as sex offender programming, and consultations to other clinicians on psycholegal and ethical issues such as risk assessment and risk management.

The curriculum will provide in-depth multidisciplinary instruction in fundamental topics in criminal, mental health, and family law. The Mental Health Law Program will be taught in collaboration with the Saint Louis University School of Law, which has the top-rated health law program in the country according to U.S. News and World Report. The fellow will also be exposed to methods of trial advocacy and will learn to conduct legal research. There will be a year long seminar on landmark legal cases that have directed and shaped forensic psychiatry in the United States. The Clinical Forensic Psychiatry Seminar, a year long seminar, will address relevant topics in forensic psychiatry. Additionally, the fellow will gain academic experience by serving as assistant director of the forensic psychiatry seminar for the adult psychiatry residents and by completing a scholarly project on the topic of his or her choosing with resulting presentation or publication quality paper.

University of Texas Medical Branch

The University of Texas Medical Branch (Greater Galveston and Houston region) is seeking a Fellow in Forensic Psychiatry for the 2027-2028 (start date 7/1/27) academic year. This ACGME-accredited one-year fellowship is an exciting chance to gain subspecialty training in psychiatry and law. The position is open to candidates who will have completed general psychiatry residency by the start of fellowship. The fellowship is a comprehensive training program that incorporates academic, correctional, community, administrative, and governmental settings. UTMB offers a diverse range of clinical forensic experiences, a robust research program, and strong collaborations with NASA, the Texas state prison system, and the Harris County Jail. Fellows will have unique opportunities to become versed in aerospace psychiatry, medical leadership, and research in forensic and correctional psychiatry.

– Fellows rotate approximately two days per week on the UTMB Forensic Service, where they provide forensic evaluation and consultation to local courts and attorneys. Fellows should expect to complete approximately 20-25 competence to stand trial evaluations and 10-15 non-competency evaluations (insanity, sentencing mitigation, fitness for duty, asylum, guardianship, testamentary capacity, personal injury, malpractice, etc.) over the course of the year, testifying as needed.

– Fellows rotate one day per week in the Texas prison system, where they join medical leadership to evaluating, developing, and improving mental health policy and programming in the prison system. Notably, although fellows provide direct patient care in the correctional setting, a goal of the rotation is to develop administrative and leadership skills.

– Fellows rotate one day per week in Harris County Jail, where they provide jail-based competency restoration treatment and conduct competency and sanity evaluations.

– Fellows rotate full-time for one month at NASA Johnson Space Center (the site of mission control and astronaut training), where they join NASA’s prestigious Aerospace Medicine Clerkship. They tour NASA facilities, receive training about the science, medicine, and mental health considerations involved in human spaceflight, and are mentored by NASA aerospace forensic psychiatrists. Fellows also participate in fitness for duty assessments for NASA and the FAA. Additional experiences in aerospace and aviation are available as well.

– Fellows have didactic sessions totaling approximately one day per week, including lectures, case seminars, Landmark Cases, and group and individual supervision. Fellows prepare for and testify at mock trial. They attend the Forensic Board Review Course at the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Annual Meeting and may attend one other conference.

– Additional experiences and mentorship are available for child and adolescent psychiatrists.

Interested candidates should contact Rocksheng Zhong, Fellowship Training Director: [email protected], 409-266-5253.

Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Medical Center

FMC Butner provides a one-year Fellowship Program in Forensic Psychiatry. Varied experiences
are available throughout the fellowship year. The primary clinical site is FMC Butner. It is one of the five national referral centers used by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. As such, it provides a full range of evaluation and treatment services. Duke University is within a 20-minute drive and fellows have the opportunity to attend courses at Duke Law School, as well as seeing child/adolescent, and civil forensic cases through adjunct staff at Duke.

During the year, fellows will evaluate a wide variety of individuals involved in the legal system and have opportunities to testify in court. The fellows will have an opportunity to teach Duke residents who regularly rotate through our program.

During the fellowship, the fellow is expected to complete a scholarly project or participate in ongoing research. Didactic experiences are provided on a weekly basis. Topics covered include ethics, criminal and civil forensic psychiatry, child and adolescent issues, regulation and licensing of psychiatry, landmark legal cases, correctional psychiatry, and special issues.

The on-site staff includes six full time psychiatrists with board certifications that include forensic, child and general psychiatry. Five Ph.D. level psychologists work in a “Team” format with psychiatrists and lend their expertise to the program. Three attorneys are also on site.

The Program allows interaction with a wide range of other Federal agencies. Attendance at national meetings and field trips around forensic issues are integrated into the experience.

NYU Grossman School of Medicine Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship, Fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry

The NYU Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship is an ACGME-accredited one-year full time program designed to develop proficiency in the practice of forensic psychiatry, including evaluations, report writing, courtroom testimony, and treatment in correctional (carceral) settings.

The NYU Forensic Psychiatry Fellows participate in supervised forensic experiences in five principal rotations. These rotations include a court-based evaluation clinic, an acute jail psychiatric unit located in a general hospital, a jail facility, a forensic state hospital, and a court mandated outpatient treatment program. Fellows also have a part-time supervised rotation in a general forensic psychiatry private practice, which includes exposure to civil and child and adolescent evaluations.

The didactic core curriculum includes robust instruction on forensic evaluations, criminal law, civil law, mental health law, correctional psychiatry, child and adolescent forensic psychiatry, neuroscience in forensic psychiatry, and introduction to forensic research. This core curriculum is shared with the other New York City area forensic fellowship programs. An additional NYU-specific yearlong didactic experience includes seminars on ethics, the fundamentals of the law and legal system, administrative psychiatry, and addiction medicine. Furthermore, NYU forensic psychiatry fellows participate in a Mental Health Disability law class at NYU School of Law, multiple mock trial experiences, and scholarly projects with a goal of academic presentation or publication.

Please refer to the NYU website listed above for information about the application process and deadlines.

Saint Vincents Hospital/ New York Medical College

The St. Vincent’s Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program, located in the vibrant and diverse Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, was founded in July 1997 and offers the expertise of a broad-based faculty. As many faculty members of this fellowship program are child psychiatrists involved in substantial forensic activities, this residency uniquely provides in-depth exposure to child and adolescent forensic issues of abuse and neglect, juvenile delinquency, foster care, and custody evaluations.

The forensic fellows are fully integrated into the Department of Psychiatry and provide teaching to trainees at all levels and consultations to a wide variety of clinical services. One of the forensic fellow’s primary responsibilites is to evaluate forensic cases for assessment and adjudication in court, including providing expert testimony. Because the fellows will be expected to testify in various court settings, a New York State license is required. All activities are fully supervised by experienced forensic psychiatrists and attorneys.

The residents receive substantial exposure to criminal aspects of forensic psychiatry, both treatment-oriented and consultative, at the Supreme Court Clinic of the State of New York and at the New York City Department of Corrections on Riker’s Island. Both locations are accessible to the hospital and are supervised by forensic faculty.

A particular strength of the program is the close mentoring and guidance by the forensic faculty on their private cases. This aspect of the fellowship allows for the opportunity to observe varied approaches of psychiatrists in the private practice of forensic psychiatry. In addition, throughout the academic year, residents will join trainees from other New York City forensic programs at weekly didactic symposia conducted by faculty from other forensic programs on the New York City area.

University of Alabama

This program has been destroyed by loss of funding for the State of Alabama. It is not expected to reopen in less tha 5 years, if ever. It has not yet been officially closed, was ACGME accreditied through 2011, but will not be taking candidates.

University of Pennsylvania, Fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry

This is a one year fully accredited fellowship for those who have completed an accredited residency program in psychiatry. All fellows will have access to hands on experiences at various state hospital forensic units, court clinics, law school clinics, VA Hospital, the Defender Association of Philadelphia’s Juvenile Justice Unit, and the forensic clinic at Penn where the fellows will assess civil and criminal cases under supervision. They will all have academic lectures of the core curriculum with literature and landmark cases by our faculty and present the results of their independent research at our weekly seminar which they will attend regularly. In addition they will follow Dr. Watacon, Dr. Ken Weiss, Associate Director and Dr. Annie Steinberg on private cases and observe testimony when available. They will also testify in their cases when requested. We are accredited for 4 fellows per year, but can take 3 fellows per year at this time

University of South Carolina, Prisma Health

One of the first accredited fellowships in the country, this fellowship is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The faculty consists of five board certified forensic psychiatrists and uses resources of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine as well as the South Carolina Department of Mental Health, the South Carolina Department of Corrections, and University Specialty Clinics. The program is based in the Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science at the School of Medicine.

The flexible clinical experience allows fellows to spend the first six months conducting pretrial competency and criminal resposibility evaluations in an outpatient specialized forensic evaluation service and providing court testimony. The second six months is spent in civil work in a forensic clinic at the School of Medicine performing personal injury, disability, testamentary capacity, and fitness for duty evaluations. Fellows also participate in evaluations for the USC Professionals Wellness Program which receives referrals for fitness for duty evaluations from the S.C. medical board and other professional licensing boards. Fellows assist faculty in the evaluation of medical malpractice cases. The remaining clinical experience is divided between treatment of adult offenders one half day for six months at a maximum security prison, testifying at release hearings for insanity acquittees, providing forensic consultation to general and child psychiatrists, and research. Fellows receive supervised courtroom experience, providing testimony about their evaluations. Fellows provide direct supervision of general psychiatry residents and medical students. Research is strongly supported and encouraged. Fellows receive a travel stipend to attend the annual meeting of AAPL, as well as the AAPL Forensic Review Course.

The didactic curriculum includes four seminars: Landmark Cases, The Psychiatrist in Court, General Topics in Forensic Psychiatry, and Overview of Legal Systems. The educational experience is also complemented with monthly Forensic Psychiatry Grand Rounds.

University of Texas Medical Branch, Forensic and Community Psychiatry

Experience: The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The University of Texas Medical Branch – Galveston offers a one-year, PGY 5, fellowship in forensic psychiatry. This is a full-time training program with experience in forensic evaluations and consultations, correctional psychiatry, exposure to a variety of forensic issues in both criminal and civil law, and selected areas of research. The fellow will participate in seminars on forensic and legal psychiatry, and take an active role in teaching residents and medical students.

Supervision: Supervisors and faculty members include adult and child forensic psychiatrists, an ethicist, attorneys, an expert in victimology, and a clinical psychologist with expertise in disorders of aggression and impulse control.

Required Reading:
1. Selected case and statutory laws for the State of Texas.
2. Selected case law of national impact.
3. Selected readings in forensic, legal and correctional psychiatry.

University of Texas Southwestern Medical School – Dallas

The UT Southwestern Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship offers a full-time, one-year comprehensive training program that integrates an extensive didactic curriculum with diverse forensic experiences. This program is meticulously designed to cultivate the necessary skills for an ethical and effective engagement with the legal system.

Rotation sites encompass the Terrell State Hospital Inpatient Forensic Service, the Special Needs Offender Program at Dallas Metrocare Services, the Dallas County Jail, the court clinic at the Frank Crowley County Court, and private practice rotations. Fellows will accrue experience in a supervised capacity, acting as consultants and expert witnesses for the Dallas County Criminal, Mental Illness Court, and mental health diversion courts. They will also be involved in examining and treating criminal offenders in both inpatient, jail and outpatient settings, which includes insanity acquittees and sex offenders, conducting court-ordered forensic evaluations, assessments of dangerousness, and civil assessments for involuntary mental health treatment and treatment over objections. The program offers abundant opportunities for consultation with attorneys and courts in Dallas County, courtroom testimony, and engagement with private practitioners in the community. The program’s diverse faculty, including fellowship-trained forensic psychiatrists and affiliated forensic psychologists, help nurture a supportive and rich learning experience.

The didactic curriculum is robust, featuring clinical case conferences, a year-long forensic psychiatry core curriculum course covering all essential topics in the theory and practice of both criminal and civil forensic psychiatry, a landmark case series, research and scholarship seminars that delve into the theoretical and practical aspects of mental health law, and the cultural, societal, and ethical impacts on legal and psychiatric practices. Additionally, fellows participate in a legal seminar to acquaint themselves with new legal precedents from pertinent state and federal court cases.