The Georgetown
University Hospital Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship is a one year full-time PGY-5
training program (a two-year half-time training program will be considered for
qualified applicants with a need for a half-time program). The fellowship is designed to train
board eligible or board certified psychiatrists who have previously completed
their general psychiatry residency and who wish to prepare for the sub-specialty
of forensic psychiatry. The program
will provide comprehensive training in the interface of Law and Psychiatry, and
how each influences the other. Social issues of common interest to law and
psychiatry will also be addressed in the program, e.g.
trans-institutionalization of the mentally ill, the death penalty, substance
abuse, and childhood neglect and abuse.
The program will
have a comprehensive formal didactic curricula covering the principles and
foundations of forensic psychiatry in both law and science of human
behavior. The program also
emphasizes teaching of expertise in the performance of forensic
evaluations. Skills will include
both the treatment of the populations of mentally ill involved in the criminal
justice system, people with addictive disorders in the legal system and children
with behavioral problems who find themselves in juvenile detention
facilities. Additionally, those
skills associated with the legal system relating to the performing of
evaluations, detection of malingering, writing of forensic reports, the
presentation of those reports and effectively testifying in court will be
covered in the curricula. Regular individual supervision, participation in case
presentations and participation in court hearings will train the resident to
effectively present psychiatric information to an audience of varying
sophistication.
The core goals
and objectives for the program, running through the core competencies,
are:
1. The fellows
will attain expert understanding and knowledge of the legal decisions, statutes
and fundamentals governing the civil and criminal justice systems, and their
practical applications in the United
States .
2. The fellows
will learn the multiplicity of interactions between law and psychiatry; the
emergence and development of legal principles and trends regulating psychiatric
practice; and the role of forensic psychiatry in the evolution of legal
standards.
3. The fellows
will develop expertise in forensic evaluations of a variety of subjects who
represent a broad range of mental disorders and circumstances in both civil and
criminal contexts. They will
acquire understanding of special diagnostic and treatment issues and procedures
in forensic psychiatry and will be able to perform risk assessments. They will develop skills to effectively
communicate the results of their evaluations in the legal system
settings.
4. The fellows
will attain extensive clinical experience in the treatment of persons involved
in the criminal justice system, both pretrial and post-trial, and will develop
perspectives and skills in the formulation of policies and procedures involving
system-based management of the subject group, such as the diversion of mentally
ill from criminal justice system to mental health system.
5. The fellows
will gain expertise in consultation to general psychiatric services on issues
related to the legal regulation of psychiatric practice such as civil
commitment, confidentiality, elder abuse, child abuse, refusal of treatment,
decision-making competence, and guardianship.
6. The fellows
will develop skills in developing, designing and conducting scholarly
research.
