Program description
The UT Southwestern Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship offers a full-time, one-year comprehensive training program that integrates an extensive didactic curriculum with diverse forensic experiences. This program is meticulously designed to cultivate the necessary skills for an ethical and effective engagement with the legal system.

Rotation sites encompass the Terrell State Hospital Inpatient Forensic Service, the Special Needs Offender Program at Dallas Metrocare Services, the Dallas County Jail, the court clinic at the Frank Crowley County Court, and private practice rotations. Fellows will accrue experience in a supervised capacity, acting as consultants and expert witnesses for the Dallas County Criminal, Mental Illness Court, and mental health diversion courts. They will also be involved in examining and treating criminal offenders in both inpatient, jail and outpatient settings, which includes insanity acquittees and sex offenders, conducting court-ordered forensic evaluations, assessments of dangerousness, and civil assessments for involuntary mental health treatment and treatment over objections. The program offers abundant opportunities for consultation with attorneys and courts in Dallas County, courtroom testimony, and engagement with private practitioners in the community. The program's diverse faculty, including fellowship-trained forensic psychiatrists and affiliated forensic psychologists, help nurture a supportive and rich learning experience.

The didactic curriculum is robust, featuring clinical case conferences, a year-long forensic psychiatry core curriculum course covering all essential topics in the theory and practice of both criminal and civil forensic psychiatry, a landmark case series, research and scholarship seminars that delve into the theoretical and practical aspects of mental health law, and the cultural, societal, and ethical impacts on legal and psychiatric practices. Additionally, fellows participate in a legal seminar to acquaint themselves with new legal precedents from pertinent state and federal court cases.