Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center, Isaac Ray Center

The Issac Ray Center fellowship provides clinical and didactic training in criminal and civil forensic psychiatry as well as opportunities to participate in research. The fellows are taught and receive supervision from an interdisciplinary faculty of board-certified forensic psychiatrists, forensic psychologists and attorneys.

Clinical rotations include experience in correctional psychiatry at the Cook County Jail. Fellows perform court-ordered evaluations for fitness and sanity and provide testimony through the Forensic Clinical Services of the Circuit Court of Cook County. At the Isaac Ray Center, fellows are trained in the evaluation and treatment of mentally disordered offenders and sexual behavior disorders, and have opportunities to perform evaluations for guardianship, fitness for duty, and dangerousness. Substantial experience in civil forensic psychiatry is provided in the area of civil litigation, including personal injury, medical malpractice and product liability cases.

Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School

The Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship draws on multiple clinical sites, a large multidisciplinary teaching faculty and a vast array of academic opportunities within the Harvard system. The different rotations include: Bridgewater State Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital Law & Psychiatry Service, Brigham and Women’s Consult/Liaison Service and additional forensic cases at BWH, Problematic Sexual Behaviors Rotation, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, and the Juvenile Court Clinic Rotation at Boston Juvenile Court. Our mission is to provide a high-quality educational experience in the diverse practice of forensic psychiatry and to prepare our fellows to be skilled and ethical practitioners of forensic psychiatry. The fellowship is designed to develop proficiency in all aspects of forensic psychiatric practice, including: Evaluation, Report Writing, Courtroom Testimony, and Treatment in correctional facilities. The fellowship pays $99,967over the course of the year and begins in July, plus the potential addition of trainee stipend. Malpractice insurance, health insurance, AAPL membership, and travel and lodging for the AAPL annual meeting are provided. The faculty includes a number of clinicians with both clinical and law degrees. Program faculty have extensive expertise in child and adolescent as well as adult forensic work. Eligibility for medical licensure in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as well as completion of an approved residency program in general psychiatry through the PGY IV year are required.

Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC) of the University of Pittsburgh offers a one year long fellowship designed to prepare trainees for a career in forensic psychiatry.

The didactic material is provided in the yearlong seminar covering a core curriculum designed to include all the relevant topics, both criminal and civil, in forensic psychiatry, including discussions of the landmark cases. The University of Pittsburgh Law School offers a course in mental health law for the fellows and collaborates in a landmark case seminar. UPMC Forensic Psychiatry Services provides a monthly clinical case conference. Fellows also participate in a quarterly journal club.

The major strength of the program is the depth and range of the clinical experience. Rotations include Torrance State Hospital Forensic Unit and the Allegheny County Behavior Clinic, which is an agency of the criminal court of Allegheny County and the second oldest diagnostic court clinic in the United States. The inclusion of the Allegheny County Behavior Clinic and Torrance State Hospital Forensic Unit assures the fellows of the opportunity to assess the defendants in many major criminal cases involving mental health issues in Allegheny County. Additionally, fellows rotate through both adult and juvenile sexual offenders programs, provide evaluation and treatment at a medium security prison, and conduct assessments for the criminal court of Westmoreland County. Fellows also observe juvenile and family court assessments. Civil cases are referred from various sources such as the University of Pittsburgh School of Law Civil Practice Clinic which yields a wide range of experience. Risk assessments are provided for Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic inpatient and outpatient services. Clinicians who have practical experience and are recognized authorities in their fields including Robert Wettstein, MD, and Edward Mulvey, PhD. Fellows are expected to participate in teaching programs for psychiatry residents and medical students. Research with opportunities for original projects or participation in ongoing studies, particularly in risk assessment for violence, is sponsored by an active and nationally renowned staff.

WPIC is located in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, a beautifully restored city, located in scenic western Pennsylvania. The city affords all the amenities of city living including three major professional sports teams, a lively cultural district and the friendliness and convenience of a small town with manageable traveling distances.

Fringe benefits include fees for the annual meeting at AAPL and enrollment in the Forensic Psychiatry Review Course.

Rutgers University, Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship

The Rutgers University-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Department of Psychiatry offers a one-year, full-time fellowship in forensic psychiatry.

Residents rotate through New Jersey’s prisons, state forensic hospital, and private practices of faculty members. The didactic curriculum joins that of the consortium of forensic psychiatry programs in New York City, thereby providing the fellow both excellent didactic training and connections to one’s professional peers. Participation in research is a required aspect of training and is readily accomplished with the support of the Forensic Psychiatry Training Director. The fellow under close supervision by the Training Director and other faculty, will develop the skills requisite for the competent practice of forensic psychiatry: diagnostic acumen; logical thought; critical analysis; lucid writing; understanding of the legal framework in which psychiatrists work; and competence in forensic assessments such as competence to stand trial, insanity, general and sexual dangerousness, asylum, and parenting capacity, among others.

Wright State University, Department of Psychiatry, Division of Forensic Psychiatry

Psychiatrists who join our fellowship program become learners and instructors in a psychiatry department that has a national reputation for excellence in post-graduate education. The Wright State fellowship emphasizes the importance of using up-to-date scientific knowledge and validated assessment tools when formulating forensic opinions. We also help fellows develop all the customary skills of forensic psychiatrists — conducting evaluations, appreciating the role of psychiatrists in the legal system, knowing relevant case law, and communicating effectively in reports and testimony.

Fellows may choose a full-time, one-year schedule or a half-time, two-year schedule. At a local public hospital, fellows perform evaluations of adjudicatory competence, criminal responsibility, competence to refuse treatment, need for involuntary hospitalization, and conditional release to the community. Experience with civil issues (e.g., psychological damages in tort litigation) comes from private cases referred to faculty members. Fellows observe and participate in treatment programs in a traditional prison setting, and gain experience in evaluating sex offenders.

Fellows attend didactic activities at Wright State and attend tutorials with University of Cincinnati fellows. We provide funds to attend the annual AAPL meeting and the forensic psychiatry review course. Fellows participate in the Internet course on Law and Mental Disability taught by Professor Michael L. Perlin of New York Law School. Structured reading, grand rounds, a monthly forensic seminar, and faculty- or fellow-initiated research round out the training experience.

Faculty members include two attorneys with widely recognized expertise in law and psychology issues, and a psychiatrist with faculty appointments at the school of medicine and the law school. Ten other psychiatrists with added qualifications in forensic psychiatry are on the faculty.

Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

The fellowship is designed to train psychiatrists in law and psychiatry who will devote their careers to practice, teaching, and research in forensic psychiatry. Although the program presents a firm theoretical background, its major strength lies in teaching the pragmatic skills of performing evaluations, detecting malingering, and critical thinking about complex reasoning in writing forensic reports. Fellows also receive instruction in teaching methods. Videotapes of mock testimony of fellows are used in teaching courtroom skills.

Since the service requirement is less than four days per week, fellows have the opportunity to participate in research and a wide array of civil cases, such as PTSD, disability, guardianship, workers compensation, and psychiatric malpractice. Our library contains 100 educational forensic videotapes. Extensive supervision by Stephen Noffsinger, M.D., Phillip Resnick, M.D. and Susan Hatters-Friedman, M.D. is a major strength of the program.

The faculty includes six fellowship-trained forensic psychiatrists with Added Qualifications in Forensic Psychiatry. Fellows take courses at CWRU Law School and participate in a seminar on Landmark Mental Health Law Cases. Clinical experience in a criminal court psychiatric clinic, juvenile court psychiatric clinic, county jail and inpatient forensic unit are tailored to the interests of each fellow.

Fringe benefits include fully paid trips to the annual meeting of AAPL, the AAPL Forensic Psychiatry Review Course, and Midwest AAPL; and a $200 book allowance.

Website:  https://www.uhhospitals.org/medical-education/psychiatry-medical-education/forensic-psychiatry-fellowship/

 

University of Michigan, Center for Forensic Psychiatry

The University of Michigan/Center for Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship is a one year training program fully accredited by the ACGME offered by the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School. The program combines a robust didactic curriculum with a variety for forensic experiences and is situated in a vibrant academic community surrounded by numerous learning, social, and cultural opportunities.

The Center for Forensic Psychiatry (CFP) serves as the primary site for many fellowship activities. It is a 272-bed inpatient forensic facility that also maintains a separate evaluation unit, which conducts over 3500 forensic evaluations annually. Additional experience is provided by University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry Forensic Evaluation Service. Fellows gain experience in the following areas: 1) competency to stand trial evaluations, 2) criminal responsibility evaluations, 3) competency restoration, 4) inpatient management of special forensic populations, 5) risk assessment evaluations, 6) civil forensic cases, and 7) court testimony. All fellow activities are closely supervised by a diverse, experienced faculty. Opportunities for court testimony are encouraged and closely supervised with special emphasis on report preparation and the role of the forensic expert. Additionally, fellow evaluation experiences at CFP enable them to obtain certification as Consulting Forensic Examiners under Michigan law.

The didactic curriculum offers seminars on landmark cases and civil and criminal forensic topics. It also features frequent outside speakers. Fellows audit classes at the University of Michigan Law School and meet with select faculty of the law school for individual instruction in an open forum type discussion. Fellows also participate in activities related to public policy and the legal regulation of psychiatry. A scholarly project is expected from all residents.

Benefits include support for professional meetings, use of extensive library facilities at CFP and the University of Michigan Medical School, and life in a diverse and cosmopolitan community. We are still accepting applications for the 2021-2022 academic year. We are accepting applications for the 2022-2023 academic year, and e-mail submission of applications is preferred. Interviews for the 2022-2023 academic year will be starting in April 2021. Due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, we will be completing interviews by video teleconference.

Columbia/Cornell Residency in Psychiatry and the Law

Fellows receive a broad exposure to forensic psychiatry through clinical rotations, a rich didactic experience, and supervision by senior faculty.

Fellows receive extensive experience at Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center, the chief forensic facility for the state. This 300-bed accredited, maximum-security forensic facility provides clinical and forensic services to insanity acquittees and mentally ill defendants undergoing restoration to competence to stand trial. Fellows are responsible for conducting forensic evaluations.

Fellows receive clinical training in the evaluation and management of sex offenders at the Secure Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (STARC), a New York State OMH program addressing the needs “dangerous sex offenders” who have been committed for treatment.

Fellows receive clinical training in the Manhattan Mental Health Court, an alternative-to-incarceration (ATI) diversion program that evaluates mentally disordered individuals charged with felonies. 

Experience in the assessment of competence to stand trial and sentencing evaluations is provided through a rotation at the Bellevue-Manhattan Court Clinic.

Fellows receive additional experience in civil cases through an extended network of private practitioners.

The didactic education is extensive. Fellows participate in a shared curriculum provided by the faculty of several New York-area programs and undertake a supervised research experience. They participate in the monthly seminar of the Division of Law, Ethics, and Psychiatry.

Dartmouth Medical School

The Department of Psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School offers a one-year PGY-5 fellowship in forensic psychiatry leading to Board eligibility. Fellows receive intense didactic and practical instruction from a faculty that includes five Board certified forensic psychiatrists, forensic psychologists, and attorneys. The program is based primarily out of Concord, NH and consists of three major components: New Hampshire Hospital, a modern state facility clinically operated by the Department of Psychiatry; New Hampshire Department of Corrections, including a 60-bed Secure Psychiatric Unit; and Community Forensic Psychiatry services. In addition to regularly scheduled seminars and conferences, fellows will also take courses at the Franklin Pierce Law Center, and participate in a research project. The fellowship year involves extensive experience in both civil and criminal areas of forensic psychiatry, including (but not limited to): involuntary commitment, administrative law, dangerousness assessment, adolescent legal issues, competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility and insanity, correctional psychiatry, sexual offenders, guardianship, personal injury and disability, employment law, and malpractice. There is ample opportunity to provide forensic psychiatry evaluations and court testimony under the supervision of the faculty.

Fringe benefits include travel to the annual AAPL meeting and enrollment in the Forensic Psychiatry Review Course.

Emory University

The fellowship program includes a wide variety of clinical experiences. Fellows conduct inpatient and outpatient evaluations of criminal defendants, provide psychiatric treatment for jail inmates, and evaluate outpatient sex offenders. In addition, the program runs an innovative in-jail competency restoration unit in the local jail. For civil work, fellows conduct asylum, disability, and fitness for duty evaluations at the Emory outpatient services. Civil work also includes participation in personal injury and malpractice cases with faculty. For fellows who have completed child psychiatry training, participation in a wide range of forensic child activities is available.

There are ongoing didactic seminars at the various sites, and fellows can sit in on courses at the Emory Law School with the approval of the professor. The program has a strong academic orientation, and fellows participate in research projects and in the teaching of other professionals. In addition to the training of fellows, the program’s mission includes the development of public policy, research, and continuing forensic education of mental health professionals in the state. The program has important affiliations with several departments of state government, and experiences in the development of public policy in forensic psychiatry are available.

Fringe benefits include travel support to the annual AAPL meeting and forensic review course.
The program accepts the common application developed by AAPL for forensic training programs (see top paragraphs at https://aapl.org/fellowship). In addition, applicants should submit documentation of citizenship/ visa status (copy of one of (a) main page of US passport, (b) US birth certificate, (c) green card, or (d) visa).

*minimum salary for a PGY-5 for academic year 2025-26.