Wayne State University
The fellowship is a 12-month academic training program that provides comprehensive didactic instruction and extensive, supervised clinical experience in both civil and criminal forensic psychiatry for residents at the PGY-5 level or higher. A major strength of the program is the extensive experience offered in civil forensic psychiatry. Fellows are primary evaluators and reviewers, as well as team members, on a wide variety of civil forensic cases, including emotional damages, fitness for duty, disability, competence and standard of care. There is a diverse faculty including ABPN certified forensic psychiatrists, forensic psychologists and an attorney.
The rotation sites include the following:
1. The Third Judicial Circuit Court Psychiatric Clinic, where fellows perform a variety of forensic evaluations on individual at various stages of legal proceedings from pretrial through post adjudication. Fellows may also provide treatment in a court ordered treatment program for sex offenders.
2. The Wayne County Jail, a 2,800 inmate facility that has a 138-bed inpatient psychiatric service. In addition, multi-disciplinary psychiatric services are also provided for approximately 250 mentally ill inmates housed in the general population of the jail.
3. The Clinic for Child Studies, which provides forensic evaluations and psychiatric treatment of juveniles involved in a variety of legal proceedings, including criminal and civil. The clinic also has an extensive treatment program for juvenile sexual offenders.
4. The University Psychiatric Center (UPC) is a clinical/education and research hub of the Wayne State University School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience. The UPC forensic psychiatry service is where the fellows gain civil forensic psychiatry experience under the supervision of the faculty which consists of one half-time psychiatrist and four part-time psychiatrists, two part-time psychologists and one part-time attorney.
The rotations are balanced with a comprehensive didactic program which includes a 25-week landmark legal cases seminar, three Wayne State University Law School courses, and other seminars and conferences including ethical issues in forensic psychiatry, forensic neuropsychology and regularly scheduled case conferences at each rotation site. On each rotation site, fellows are expected to testify on their own cases, and this testimony is observed and feedback is given by fellowship faculty. Fellows also participate in two mock trials per year. Fellows must be eligible for an unlimited Michigan Medical License.
West Virginia University
The Division of Forensic Psychiatry at West Virginia University offers a full-time one-year fellowship designed to provide a comprehensive and practical training experience. Fellows benefit from a balanced clinical and didactic curriculum resulting in an exceptional training experience in all aspects of forensic psychiatry. The breadth of forensic training prepares fellows for National Boards.
The primary training site, Chestnut Ridge Hospital, is the psychiatric center for West Virginia University Hospitals. The hospital is a regional referral center providing fellows with the quantity and diversity of experience necessary for training. Other training sites include a state hospital with designated inpatient forensic units, correctional facilities, a general medical hospital, and affiliated state-wide patient care facilities.
The multi-disciplinary faculty includes adult and child psychiatrists, forensic psychologists, social workers and attorneys. Fellows are supervised by Board Certified forensic psychiatrists. The didactic curriculum integrates a comprehensive review of forensic issues with in-depth concentration on the essential elements of forensic practice. Individual supervision includes both theoretical and pragmatic education.
Fellows are active participants in the educational activities of the department with supervised teaching responsibilities for residents, medical students and other trainees. There are opportunities for evaluations of civil and criminal cases, inpatient evaluations, research, and educational presentations in the community.
Benefits include provision of professional meeting allowance, educational materials, malpractice and health insurance. An additional benefit is living in a university town ranked as the best small city in America, according to a study by Demographics Daily. Please refer to the divisions website for additional information.
Yale University School of Medicine, Law and Psychiatry Division
The Yale forensic psychiatry fellowship is a full-time, one-year training program that enhances skills at the intersection of psychiatry and the law. The program’s website describes its aims, rotations, didactics, research, and faculty: Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship | Law and Psychiatry. Interested trainees are also invited to schedule a 1:1 Zoom meeting with Dr. Kapoor to learn more.
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. We accept 2 fellows per year. The primary goal of this ACGME accredited training program is to provide forensic psychiatric fellows with the opportunity to gain didactic knowledge and practical experience in Forensic Psychiatry in order to develop the skills necessary to practice the subspecialty in an ethical and scientific manner. The fellows will receive training and education involving administrative, civil, criminal, correctional, and legislative issues. Fellows will learn the legal regulation of psychiatric practice and be able to provide expert psychiatric evaluation and treatment in both forensic and correctional settings. The program will also offer fellows the opportunity to develop their specific interests in this subspecialty, including research, child forensic psychiatry, neuro-law experiences with neuroimaging in forensic cases, and to learn how to work effectively with forensic psychologists and other mental health experts in forensic settings.
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.
Medical College of Wisconsin
The Medical College of Wisconsin offers a one-year full-time fellowship in forensic psychiatry. Fellows will spend most of their time in Madison at Mendota Mental Health Institute and part-time rotations also occur in Waupun at Dodge Correctional Institute and the Central Wisconsin Center, also in Madison. The fellowship offers a high faculty to fellow ratio with six forensic psychiatrists as part of our core faculty and forensic psychologists who supervise evaluations and lecture.
The rotation at Mendota includes emphasis on the inpatient evaluation and treatment of individuals who have been found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect and who are being treated for competency restoration. Fellows will perform forensic evaluations at Mendota including guardianship, competency to proceed, and involuntary medication (Sell) requests.
Fellows will also see psychiatric patients at Dodge Correctional Institute for one day per week and participate in their longitudinal care. They also complete a six-month half day per week rotation at the Central Wisconsin Center seeing patients with intellectual disabilities, neurodevelopmental and genetic disorders who require long term care. Fellows will also participate in criminal responsibility evaluations throughout the fellowship, principally in jail or outpatient settings. They will also participate in civil evaluations including fitness for duty.
Our fellowship also offers joint didactics with psychology. Fellows participate in forensic case conferences, landmark lecture series, traditional didactics, mock trials and panels with legal professionals. We also offer unique opportunities in learning and conducting psychological testing, violence risk assessments, and evaluation of sexually violent persons, through our collaboration with our psychology department and the DOC.
Fellows are given leave time and funding to attend the annual AAPL meeting as well as the Forensic Psychiatry Review Course. Additional continuing medical education time is available, along with three weeks of vacation.
Mental Health Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County, Texas
In order to make it affordable to do a forensic fellowship, we are offering a unique program which will allow the fellow to complete the fellowship over a period of from 1 to 2 years. Those choosing an extended program will work for MHMRA in a regular staff capacity (1/2 to 3/4 time) at a staff psychiatrist salary.
It is a post residency position. The fellow must be eligible for a Texas medical license. The program is structured to prepare the fellow for the forensic psychiatric boards, as well as to provide the fellow with the essential skills and knowledge needed for a successful practice of forensic psychiatry. There is a heavy emphasis on the preparation of high quality written reports and on the presentation of effective courtroom testimony.
The educational experience is divided between the Forensic Psychiatry Unit (certified by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care) at the Harris County Jail, the Juvenile Forensic Program, the family court, the probate court and private attorney case loads. The criminal experience gained at the Harris County Jail is more comprehensive than at most programs. Screening, treating and forensic evaluations occur on site. At the Probate Court the emphasis is on civil commitment, guardianship, competency, and the refusal of treatment.
MHMRA oversees the Juvenile Forensic Detention Center. The Family Court offers an opportunity for involvement in custody issues. Arrangements will be made for the fellow to work with attorneys on personal injury and malpractice cases.
The program is directed by a psychiatrist/attorney who is Board Certified in forensic psychiatry. MHMRA has an experienced staff of Medical-School-affiliated psychiatrists with extensive backgrounds in forensic issues. There is also an opportunity to audit courses at the University of Houston Law School which offers an LL.M. in Health Law. Resources from the U.T.H.S.C. at Houston and the Baylor College of Medicine will be called upon where appropriate. The entire forensic faculty will supervise the fellow in preparing a research project.
Walter Reed Center for Forensic Behavioral Sciences
This fellowship is designed specifically to train military psychiatrists to proficiently manage military forensic issues. The program is tri-service and invites applicants from the US Army, Navy and Air Force. The program, although military-unique, also prepares the fellow(s) for subspecialty certification in Forensic Psychiatry.
The fellowship draws on the considerable civilian, military and federal resources available in the metropolitan Washington, DC area. The fellows gain experience through rotation at (1) Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup, MD; (2) Saint Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, DC; (3) The Behavioral Sciences Unit of the FBI in Quantico, VA; (4) The Quantico Brig; (5) Georgetown Law School; (6) The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD; (7) The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, DC; and (8) through interactions with local military and civilian clinicians and attorneys.
Significant time in the curriculum is devoted to didactics, both general forensic psychiatry and military legal issues. Psychiatrists and military attorneys/judges teach the seminars. Research is required and the results are presented at departmental Grand Rounds.
Fellowship is only open to active duty psychiatrists.