Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship

Our faculty members have in-depth experience in the medical-legal interface, and we’re dedicated to sharing our knowledge with you.  

You’ll work with mentors who have wide-ranging expertise. We’re experienced with forensic evaluations in areas including competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility, pre-sentencing, immigration issues, family court matters, juvenile court waivers and civil matters. 

We’ve provided consultation to private attorneys, and we are adept at providing comprehensive reports to treatment providers who request second opinions for clinical or forensic use. We have longstanding strong relationships with numerous community attorneys and agencies.

Our rotations will give you the experience you need to interface effectively with the legal system. We’ll provide you with opportunities to observe and participate in performing evaluations, preparing reports and testifying in civil and criminal cases. 

We’ll train you to manage violent patients and work with incarcerated juveniles. You’ll gain experience with a variety of civil and criminal forensic evaluations and develop your clinical skills in a correctional setting.

We want to ensure that you’re comfortable working within in the legal system, so we maintain a relationship with the UB school of law, which is among the nation’s strongest public law schools. 

We expect you to audit at least one in law class during your year of training, and we give you the option to pursue an additional class. Learning alongside law students — with the guidance of seasoned law professors — will augment your legal education and help you navigate complexities of the law.

We’re proud of our tie to the law school; not all forensic psychiatry programs can offer their fellows the opportunity to participate in law classes.

We require you to pursue a scholarly research project, which will expose you to special research considerations in the field of forensic psychiatry. You can expect to have protected time each week to review your scholarly project with your faculty mentor.

We’ve balanced our training with a valuable set of didactics. We focus our didactics on the major areas you’ll need to master. You’ll engage in journal club sessions, grand rounds, lectures, mock trial and case presentations that supplement the training you’ll undertake in our rotations.

Our program will expose you to adolescent and adult evaluees — from different cultural backgrounds and with a broad range of mental disorders — in both the civil and criminal contexts.

We will prepare you to work competently in settings including:

• juvenile detention center
• specialized behavioral management unit within a general hospital setting
• county holding center and county correctional facilities