The Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship program at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University was approved in spring 2009. It will be the second forensic fellowship in Georgia and intends to train one fellow per year in the field of psychiatry and the law.
The Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship is an ACGME accredited one-year fellowship program offered through the partnership between East Central Regional Hospital (ECRH) and Augusta University (AU). The fellowship has one full-time position available each year and offers a dynamic curriculum of clinical experiences in addition to weekly educational seminars conducted alongside our Forensic Psychology fellows and faculty. Didactic material and mental health case law is chosen for the curriculum with the goal of preparing fellows for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology’s Forensic Psychiatry examination and practical application of forensic psychiatry. Teaching and research opportunities are available to fellows under the mentorship of faculty and can be adapted to meet individual goals of the fellow.
Clinical treatment settings include inpatient forensic psychiatry at East Central Regional Hospital and a correctional mental health continuity clinic at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center. Fellows will be afforded the opportunity to observe treatment at the Augusta State Medical Prison and at the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities’ maximum security forensic facility, Central State Hospital located in Milledgeville, Georgia. Fellows will become proficient in evaluating and preparing reports addressing competency to stand trial and criminal responsibility in the outpatient and inpatient forensic settings. They will also have the opportunity to conduct structured risk assessments for individuals committed to ECRH as well as in a consultative role for patients at Augusta University Health and its affiliated behavioral health treatment settings. Fellows will gain experience in forensic psychiatry and civil law through conducting fitness for duty evaluations and assisting faculty mentors with consultation on cases referred for expert opinion through the Augusta University Forensic Institute. The fellow will be granted opportunities to observe expert testimony, learn principles of serving as an expert for the court, and will testify as a qualified expert prior to completion of the program. As a part of the program, the fellow will attend the October annual meeting for the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL) and will participate in the comprehensive review course.
This fellowship will prepare participants for careers in all psychiatric settings in which forensic expertise is desired.