Stanford Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program

Fellows participate in the Santa Clara County court panel to perform court-appointed forensic psychiatric examinations including competency to stand trial evaluations and evaluations of criminal responsibility. These evaluations provide ample opportunity for supervised preparation of forensic psychiatric reports in criminal contexts. Fellows also accept other forensic evaluations from sources in the community via the Forensic Clinic and participate once per month in a clinic managing patients designated as Sexually Violent Predators (SVPs) under California law.

Our program’s didactic curriculum connects fellows to a diverse network of forensic psychiatrists and psychologists. Program faculty meet with fellows in twice-monthly case conferences to share insights on forensic assessment, report-writing, and planning for testimony in a wide range of civil and criminal cases. Fellows will also participate in a Landmark Case Seminar reviewing holdings in the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law’s landmark cases.

Fellows can also elect to participate in didactics at the School of Law, which include courses on Neuroethics by Hank Greely, Mental Health Law, and Criminal Law. Interested fellows may also interface with law students via activities such as the Law Student Clinic and the Stanford Asylum Collaborative.

Fellows have protected time throughout the year to pursue scholarly projects. Stanford is fortunate to house all its schools on one unified campus, thus enabling ideal conditions for cross-fertilization and idea incubation, which drive innovation and scholarship.

Our fellowship is ACGME accredited for 2 fellows.

Information regarding the annual stipend and benefits can be found on the GME website. Note that incoming forensic psychiatry fellows are considered to be PGY-5s, regardless of prior fellowships completed.