Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship

The Harvard Mass General Brigham Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship is a one-year, full-time ACGME-accredited training program based at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH). The fellowship is designed to develop proficiency in all aspects of forensic psychiatric practice, including:

• Evaluation
• Report writing
• Courtroom testimony
• Treatment in correctional facilities

As a fellow, you will participate in supervised clinical experiences in multiple off-site facilities which provide for a varied experience and exposure to criminal and civil matters. Remaining time will be spent in academic activities, didactics, supervision and conducing forensic casework at the Law & Psychiatry Service (LPS) at Mass General Hospital. Additionally, you will provide episodic consultation to the Psychiatric Inpatient Service at Mass General and help teach and supervise house staff when called for forensic consultation at Mass General and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Evaluation, research, writing and teaching skills are emphasized throughout the fellowship. You will participate in a year-long seminar series that provides a comprehensive overview of adult and child forensic topics, as well as landmark cases in psychiatry and the law. You will also be invited to attend special courses offered to staff and trainees in the LPS and the Departments of Psychiatry at MGH and BWH. Fellows attend weekly Grand Rounds presentations and monthly Process Improvement Rounds. In addition to court exposure through cases in the fellowship, you will participate in multiple mock trial/expert witness exercises.

During the fellowship year, fellows are also expected to make a scholarly contribution by participating in a forensic research project or undertaking a review of legal and/or psychiatric literature.

Applicants must have completed an ACGME-accredited general psychiatry residency program. At the time the fellow begins the program, they must have a Massachusetts medical license, a Massachusetts Controlled Substance Certificate, and a DEA license.

Program Benefits

The program provides malpractice and health insurance coverage for the fellow and three weeks paid vacation. In addition, the program pays for American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL) membership, travel, lodging and tuition for the AAPL annual meeting, as well as the AAPL review course. Fellows are eligible for subsidized parking or subsidized public transportation and the use of Harvard facilities.

Fellows have no admitting privileges. There is no expectation to provide cross-coverage for any private patients. Fellows may take limited evening and weekend call at affiliated sites. Fellows sign a written employment contract with Mass General Brigham and must abide by the policies governing all Mass General Brigham house staff.

Curriculum

Fellows rotate through multiple off-site facilities which provide for a varied experience and exposure to criminal and civil matters, including:

• Bridgewater State Hospital for six months, conducting forensic evaluations, writing forensic reports, and proffering testimony, as well as providing clinical psychiatric care to patients.
• Fellows gain experience in correctional psychiatry, providing psychiatric consultation and ongoing care to inmates at the Suffolk County House of Correction (SCHOC) one day per week for six months.
• New England Forensic Associates and the Institute for Sexual Wellness learning about the diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders, as well as the application of clinical knowledge and skills to assessment of these disorders in the forensic setting.

All additional time will be spent at Mass General in the Law & Psychiatry Service attending lectures, participating in forensic evaluations for threat assessments, guardianship and various criminal and civil forensic matters. Fellows have the opportunity to write reports for these evaluations under the supervision of staff and will participate in regular supervision with the fellowship directors and faculty.

Our Faculty

Program Leadership

Matthew Lahaie, MD, JD
Director, Law & Psychiatry Service at Massachusetts General Hospital
Co-Director, Harvard Mass General Brigham Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship

Jhilam Biswas, MD
Director, Psychiatry, Law, and Society Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Co-Director, Harvard Mass General Brigham Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship

Marilyn Price, MDCM
Associate Program Director, Harvard Mass General Brigham Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship
Attending Psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital

Program Faculty

Becca Weintraub Brendel, MD, JD
Director of the Master’s Degree Program at the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics
Director of Law and Ethics at the Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior
Attending Psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital

Christine Darsney, PhD
Director, Children and the Law Program, Law & Psychiatry Service
Attending Psychologist, Massachusetts General Hospital

Donald Davidoff, PhD
Chief (ret.), Department of Neuropsychology, McLean Hospital

Eric Y. Drogin, JD, PhD, ABPP
Staff Psychologist, Forensic Psychiatry Service, Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Judith Edersheim, MD, JD
Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Center for Law, Brain and Behavior
Attending Psychiatrist in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital

Thomas Gutheil, MD
Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Co-founder of the Program in Psychiatry and Law, Beth Israel Deaconess Department of Psychiatry

Nathan Hartvigsen, MD
Co-Director of Home Base Intensive Outpatient Program
Consultant, Law & Psychiatry Service, MGH

Jose Hidalgo, MD
Psychiatric Medical Director for Naphcare, Inc. and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department
Consultant, Law & Psychiatry Service at Massachusetts General Hospital

Jeffrey Kerner, MD
Consultant, Law & Psychiatry Service at Massachusetts General Hospital
Attending Psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital

Jennifer McAllister, PsyD
Director of Forensic Services, Bridgewater State Hospital

Christopher Myers, MD
Executive Medical Director, Bridgewater State Hospital

Roger Pitman, MD
Psychiatrist, Massachusetts General Hospital

David Rosmarin, MD
Director of Forensic Psychiatry, McLean Hospital

Ronald Schouten, MD, JD
Director of the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program at St. Elizabaeths Hospital in Washington, DC
Director Emeritus of the Law & Psychiatry Service of the Massachusetts General Hospital

Renee Sorrentino, MD
Medical Director of the Institution for Sexual Wellness
Attending Psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital

Kyle Walker, MD
Forensic Psychiatrist, Bridgewater State Hospital

John Young, PsyD
Associate Director of Forensic Services Bridgewater State Hospital
Director of the Postdoctoral Fellowship in Forensic Psychology, Bridgewater State Hospital

How to Apply

Please note that we aim to be consistent with the AAPL Common Application process. Please see the guide for further information.

View Guide

Note that two writing samples are required. For a completed application, we require the following:

• Completed and signed AAPL Common Application Form
• A curriculum vitae
• A brief one-page personal statement including aspects of your background, experiences and interests relevant to training in forensic psychiatry
• A copy of your current professional licensure
• Two writing samples. These should be fully redacted and should be of a clinical nature, preferably forensic, for which you had primary responsibility
• Copies of UMSLE/COMPLEX scores
• Copy of your medical school diploma
• Copy of ECFMG certificate (if applicable)
• If there are any interruptions in your medical education or training to date for academic disciplinary reasons, please provide a separate written statement of explanation
• Please request that the following documents are sent directly to the fellowship program from the source:
• 3 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. the additional two should be from supervisors and attending staff with whom you have worked directly
• Official copy of medical school transcript and dean’s letter

Applications are accepted via ERAS starting in July
Interviews will occur between August and October

Application questions should be sent to:

Mary Horn and Louise McHale
Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Coordinators
Law & Psychiatry Service
Massachusetts General Hospital
One Bowdoin Square, 10th Floor
Boston, MA 02114

Phone: 617-724-3119
Emails: Mary Horn, mhorn2@mgh.harvard.edu | Louise McHale, llmchale@mgb.org