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  The Division of Social & Community Psychiatry

Fellowships

 

Law & Psychiatry Fellowships

FCI-Butner provides a one-year Fellowship Program in Forensic Psychiatry. Varied experiences are available throughout the fellowship year. The primary clinical site is FCI-Butner. It is one of the three national referral centers for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.  As such, it provides a full range of evaluation and treatment services. Duke University is within a 20-minute drive and fellows have the opportunity to attend courses at Duke Law School, as well as seeing Child/Adolescent, and Civil Forensic cases through adjunct staff at Duke.

During the year, fellows will evaluate a wide variety of individuals involved in the legal system and have opportunities to testify in court.  The fellows will have an opportunity to teach Duke residents who regularly rotate through our program. During the fellowship, the fellow is expected to complete a scholarly project or participate in ongoing research.  Didactic experiences are provided on a weekly basis. Topics covered include ethics, criminal and civil forensic psychiatry, child and adolescent issues, regulation and licensing of psychiatry, landmark legal cases, correctional psychiatry, and special issues.  A research seminar is also conducted.

The on-site staff includes six full-time psychiatrists with board certifications that include Forensic, Child and General Psychiatry.  Five Ph.D. level psychologists work in a ‘Team” format with psychiatrists and lend their expertise to the program.  Two attorneys are also on site.

The Program allows interaction with a wide range of other Federal agencies.  Attendance at national meetings and field trips around forensic issues are integrated into the experience.

The goal of the fellowship program is to provide an environment in which fellows are able to attain 1) a basic knowledge base in Forensic Psychiatry, 2) clinical skills needed to be able to competently perform in the area of Forensic Psychiatry, and 3) the ability to continue their own education in the ever-expanding field.

The program’s objectives are to teach the criminal, civil, and ethical aspects of Forensic Psychiatry.  As a function of these objectives, the fellows will gain knowledge in the areas of direct clinical practice, consultation, research, legislative issues, licensure, administration, and case law applicable to the field.  The fellows will be expected to have the ability to utilize a law library and be literate in the area of legal case review.  Fellows will learn the skills required to translate their psychiatric knowledge into clear appropriate reports and testimony in the multiple areas in which law and psychiatry interface.  As part of this expectation, they will learn what is required for a thorough evaluation, including ethical limitations.  Forensic fellows will divide their time between the Federal Correctional Institution, Duke University School of Law, the Duke Department of Psychiatry, and the Court System.  Ancillary experiences available will be participation in National Meetings and the opportunity to observe and participate with Forensic Psychiatrists on the clinical staff.

The primary area of clinical practice will be at FCI-Butner where the fellows will do Federal Evaluations in the areas of pre-sentence evaluation, competency, dangerousness, criminal responsibility, and involuntary medication hearings.  They will have direct clinical responsibility for the treatment of prisoners in need of psychiatric services in the Mental Health Division of FCI-Butner.  This work will be directly supervised by staff psychiatrists who are actively involved in the teaching of the Forensic fellows. There are regularly scheduled didactic seminars on a weekly basis throughout the year at FCI-Butner, as well as required course work at the Duke Law School. To apply, residents contact: Sally Johnson, M.D., FCI-Butner, P.O. Box 1000, Butner, NC 27509-1000; telephone: (919)575-4541

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Post-Doctoral Fellowships Health Services Research

The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in partnership with the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center, offers postdoctoral training opportunities for qualified candidates.  Other collaborating units at UNC-CH include the Department of Social Medicine and the Department of Psychiatry. The program is supported by a National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Training Grant from the National Institute of Mental Health of the U.S. Public Health Service.

The Program is intended to expand the pool of investigators capable of undertaking policy-relevant mental health services and systems research.  It will assist persons with a doctoral degree in sociology, psychology, anthropology, social work, psychiatry, public health or related fields to gain experience in applying research methods to the systematic analysis and evaluation of mental health services and public policy issues. The emphases of the training program are the organization, financing, utilization, quality, and evaluation of mental health care services; public policies for ensuring access to such services; and the social epidemiology of mental disorders.  The Program is committed to multidisciplinary training, a public sector orientation, and a special focus on persons with a severe and persistent mental illness.  To apply, residents contact: Joseph Morrissey, Ph.D., UNC-Chapel Hill, CB#7590, Sheps Ctr. For Health Services Research, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7590; telephone: (919)966-5829. 

(http://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/Training_Programs/Postdoc.overview.html)

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