Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship | NYU Langone Health

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Psychiatry Fellowships Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship

Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship

NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship is a full-time one-year program that trains fellows to become proficient in the practice of forensic psychiatry, including evaluation, report writing, courtroom testimony, and treatment in correctional settings.

Under the leadership of Jeremy H. Colley, MD, program director, and Catherine Mier, MD, associate program director, the fellowship features extensive clinical training and a didactic curriculum to ensure you are fully prepared to practice in an academic or clinical setting. The program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Clinical Training for Fellows

We emphasize evaluation, research, and teaching skills at our clinical training sites. Supervised rotations are easily accessible by public transportation.

Bellevue Jail Forensic Psychiatry Inpatient Service

This rotation on the jail unit at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue helps you develop the knowledge necessary to treat males with acute mental illness in the correctional setting. You also testify in matters of treatment over objection and hospital retention. This rotation is 10 to 11 weeks.

Rikers Island Correctional Center

During this rotation at Rikers Island under NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services, you manage a diverse range of psychopathology on a specialized mental health unit and a jail mental health clinic. During intakes, you evaluate all women and men referred to the mental health service. As a fellow, you are invited to participate in ongoing research projects. In addition, you participate in a weekly correctional psychiatry journal club and attend New York City Board of Correction hearings. You rotate on this service three days per week for 10 to 11 weeks.

Correctional Health Services Forensic Psychiatry Court Clinic

This rotation teaches you how to perform criminal outpatient forensic examinations and write forensic psychiatric reports for submission to the courts and probation department. The population includes women and defendants aged 13 years and older. You may be asked to testify in criminal court regarding their trial competency findings. This rotation lasts for 10 to 11 weeks.

Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center

During the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center rotation, you develop evaluation and writing skills by preparing comprehensive forensic reports. You perform dangerousness assessments and provide testimony on insanity acquittees to determine the risk of transfer to a less restrictive setting. You also perform evaluations for treatment over objection and run two therapeutic groups a week. This rotation lasts 10 to 11 weeks.

Manhattan Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program

During training at this treatment program, you learn how to perform comprehensive forensic examinations for men and women referred for court-mandated outpatient treatment pursuant to Kendra’s Law in New York state. Fellows testify before a judge for many cases. You spend 10 to 11 weeks on this rotation.

The Private Practice of Forensic Psychiatry

This rotation teaches you about the private practice of general and child and adolescent forensic psychiatry. You perform evaluations, write reports, and observe faculty testimony in both criminal and civil courts. Cases include child custody, juvenile justice, criminal responsibility, immigration issues, personal injury, and domestic violence, among others. You spend a half day per week for six months in a local private practice.

Didactic Training for Fellows

The didactic core curriculum includes educational modules on forensic assessment, criminal law, civil law, mental health law, correctional psychiatry, law and the legal system, child and adolescent forensic psychiatry, neuroscience in forensic psychiatry, and introduction to forensic research.

You attend year-long seminars on ethics, the basics of law, and addiction medicine for forensic psychiatrists, as well as a journal club. You also attend a mental health disability law class at NYU School of Law and multiple mock trial sessions.

During your training, you gain experience in teaching medical students and residents, and you participate in an original scholarly project that is submitted for Kirby grand rounds.

A day and a half each week are dedicated to this curriculum: one day is shared with other New York City–area forensic psychiatry fellows, and the half-day is reserved exclusively for NYU Langone fellows.

Fellowship Eligibility Requirements

Five fellowship positions are available for each academic year. All applicants must have completed an ACGME-accredited general psychiatry residency before entering the program. All interested individuals are welcome to apply. Students from underrepresented backgrounds, including but not limited to those who identify as Black or African American, Latinx, Native American, Native Pacific Islander, or Native Alaskan, are encouraged to apply. We look for mature, motivated physicians who enjoy working with individuals in the public sector. We consider factors such as writing ability, research experience, leadership potential, flexible temperament, and career goals. We strive for a well-rounded, diverse class of fellows.

Fellowship Application Process

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and continue to be reviewed until all positions are filled. We start accepting application materials for the upcoming training year on May 1. The Association of Directors of Forensic Psychiatry Fellowships (ADFPF) approved the use of a common application form, which can be accessed at ADFPF.

We require a core application and three letters of reference.

Core Application

The core application includes the following items:

  • your CV
  • a personal statement about your interest and experience in forensic psychiatry, as well as your specific interest in our program (one single-spaced page)
  • copy of medical school diploma
  • de-identified clinical or forensic writing sample
  • copy of current medical license
  • copy of United States Medical Licensing Examination or Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination

International applicants must also submit the following items:

  • a valid Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) certificate
  • proof of visa status or U.S. citizenship

Email all core materials as a PDF to Tanisha Young-Nuzzi, program manager, at tanisha.young-nuzzi@nyulangone.org, and copy Dr. Mier at catherine.mier@nyulangone.org. The subject line of your email should be: Forensic Fellowship Application [APPLICANT LAST NAME, APPLICANT FIRST NAME].

Letters of Reference and Dean’s Letter

Please submit three letters of reference, one of which must be from your current program director, or, if you have completed training within the past five years, the director of the program from which you graduated most recently. If you have not been in training in the past five years, then a training director letter is not required.

In addition, please submit a dean’s letter with an official medical school transcript.

These letters should be emailed directly by their authors to Tanisha Young-Nuzzi. PDF format is preferred.

Interviews

As noted by the ADFPF, interviews begin in August and are held at NYU Grossman School of Medicine on Friday mornings. They include meetings with faculty representatives from each rotation as well as a chance to meet current fellows.

Offers

All application materials must be received before we make a formal offer for a position. As noted by the ADFPF, offers are extended starting August 1. Candidates have until October 3 to accept or reject an offer.

An offer of employment is not final until you are successfully credentialed by NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Office of Graduate Medical Education. Learn more about terms of employment and our graduate medical education policies and services.

NYU Langone does not offer H-1B visa sponsorship for house staff, residents, or fellows, but J-1 sponsorship is available through the ECFMG.

Contact Us

For questions about our fellowship or our recruitment process, please email Dr. Colley at jeremy.colley@nyulangone.org or Dr. Mier at catherine.mier@nyulangone.org.

For questions about the application process, please contact Tanisha Young-Nuzzi, program manager, at tanisha.young-nuzzi@nyulangone.org.

If you would like to request an alumni verification for our Psychiatry Residency and Fellowship Programs, contact us at psycheduverifications@nyulangone.org. Alumni verifications are typically processed 7 to 10 business days from receipt of payment. Please send a check or money order, payable to NYU Grossman School of Medicine, for the $100 alumni verification fee to the following address:

NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Department of Psychiatry
One Park Avenue
Room 8-241
New York, NY 10016
Attn: Residency/Fellowship Verification