Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Education & Training

The Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship program consists of one year of didactic study and supervised clinical experience working in the area of law and psychiatry. A concentration in child forensic psychiatry is available. Four fellowship positions are available each year.

Forensic psychiatry fellows take coursework at the Case Western Reserve University Law School. Fellows participate in an extensive 48-week didactic seminar, which in a given week typically includes a 90-minute lecture on core topics in forensic psychiatry and a two-hour detailed study of landmark mental health law cases. In total, fellows master the more than 100 landmark mental health law cases.

Fellows participate in forensic case conferences and mock trials, serving as expert witness, direct examiner and cross-examiner. Fellows participate in forensic psychiatric evaluations from the faculty members’ forensic practices, which cover a wide variety of topics in forensic psychiatry.

Additional forensic psychiatry training activities include the forensic psychiatry journal club, research project, grand rounds, publishing, and presenting forensic psychiatry workshops at the American Psychiatric Association and American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law annual meetings. Unique experiences that the forensic psychiatry fellows attend include: Child Fatality Review, Homicide Review Team, and Drug Court.

View example education components

• General Schedule
• Syllabus
• Landmark and Forensic Seminars
• Case Conferences and Mock Trials
• Faculty Supervision Schedule

Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Rotations

• Forensic psychiatry inpatient units at Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services’ regional psychiatric hospitals, including Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare and Heartland Behavioral Healthcare
• Court Psychiatric Clinic at the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas
• Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center
• Summit County Jail
• Forensic psychiatry consultation to inpatient psychiatry services
• Forensic psychiatry private practice, including evaluations referred by defense and plaintiff attorneys, courts, prosecutors, public defenders, insurance companies, hospital credentialing/privileging committees, and state licensing boards.