Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program

The Montefiore Einstein Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship is a one-year training program offered by the Division of Law and Psychiatry. This unique program combines a comprehensive didactic curriculum with an extensive and varied array of forensic experiences. Our primary mission is to equip future forensic psychiatrists with the broadest base of forensic knowledge, skills, judgment, attitudes and values to fully practice all facets of forensic psychiatry in an astute, sophisticated and sensitive manner.

Didactic work includes a yearlong lecture series that covers all aspects of forensic psychiatry. In addition, fellows will participate in seminars on legal philosophy, landmark cases and psychiatric and forensic ethics. They will also partake in journal clubs, case reviews and the training of general residents. The lecture series is conducted by faculty from forensic fellowship programs in New York City and New Jersey. These include New York University, Rutgers University, Montefiore Einstein and Columbia University. Fellows will also attend lectures given by private forensic psychiatrists, lawyers and judges. Fellows participate in a mock trial, testify in cases they have evaluated and prepare formal reports. Monthly preceptorships with senior faculty in private and civil forensic expert work also exist.

Clinical 
We train our fellows at numerous sites, where they will become proficient in all areas of forensic psychiatry. Sites include:

• Correctional Health Services Court Clinic
• Bronx Psychiatric Center
• Bronx Mental Health Court/Bronx TASC Mental Health Program
• Correctional Health Services (Rikers Island)
• Sing Sing Correctional Facility
• Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS)

Through these rotations, our fellows gain experience in the following areas:

• Court-ordered forensic evaluations of adult and child cases
• Examination and treatment of criminal offenders (including sex offenders)
• Dangerousness assessments
• Child custody
• Mental health court-based diversion
• Immigration
• Veterans affairs
• Evaluation and treatment of insanity acquittees
• Correctional mental health administration and treatment
• Civil assessments for involuntary hospitalization, treatment over objection, outpatient commitment, immigration relief and guardianship

Throughout their training, fellows will have ample opportunity to give courtroom testimony.

All fellows receive at least 90 minutes of formal supervision from the program director and/or the associate fellowship program director every week, and weekly supervision by each site director at their assigned rotations. We encourage close collaboration and mentorship, and offer after-hours supervision and ongoing, informal guidance as needed.

Fellows participate in a yearlong, weekly, full-day didactic program consisting of seminars in the fundamentals of criminal and civil forensic psychiatry, forensic research and ethics, correctional psychiatry and landmark cases. They will also participate in a journal club.

This didactic curriculum is augmented by a July and August orientation in forensic practice, risk assessment and relevant New York State law, as well as participation as both a student and a teacher in the forensic curriculum for medical students and psychiatric residents.

We also encourage fellows to submit abstracts for presentations at the annual meeting. Past submissions have covered a wide range of topics, including:

• Legal research into liability issues
• Risk assessment in mentally ill offenders
• Emergency department care
• Comparison studies of sexual offenders
• Ethics involved when psychiatric patients must decide on elective surgery

Sample Rotation Schedule

Bronx Psychiatric Center (BPC)
Our primary forensic fellowship training site, BPC, is located approximately one mile from Albert Einstein College of Medicine academic center. A facility of the New York State Office of Mental Health, the BPC is a 156-bed psychiatric hospital that offers:

• Associated off-site outpatient clinic
• Vocational rehabilitation
• Substance abuse/methadone maintenance programs

The facility also serves as an integral part of the continuum of care and monitoring for forensic patients who have been transferred from secure facilities, including prisons and jails (e.g. Rikers Island Correctional Facility) and forensic psychiatric units within the system (e.g. Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Center).

In addition to its comprehensive range of inpatient and ambulatory clinical services, BPC offers:

• The latest in psychopharmacologic research
• Cutting-edge community interventions
• Training programs for psychiatric residents, medical students and other mental health disciplines (e.g. clinical psychology)

BPC is the home base for both in-hospital activities and statewide consultations. The in-hospital work includes consultations on general and forensic patients in the areas of:

• Dangerousness
• Violence
• Right to refuse treatment
• Civil commitment and retention
• Outpatient commitment
• Guardianship
• Sex offender assessment
• Medical/legal review of insanity acquitters

Our fellows also participate in the Hospital Forensic Committee, where they will help review patients for privileges and discharge.

Statewide work at BPC is focused on:

• Forensic evaluations of insanity acquittees (both immediately post-acquittal and at critical treatment junctures)
• Risk assessments at state hospitals and correctional settings
• Forensic program and policy development for the New York State Office of Mental Health

Fellows also evaluate non-state cases referred to the program by other agencies, such as the Correctional Health Services Court Clinic, Brooklyn Defenders, Veteran Advocacy Project and private law firms.

These referrals include:

• Fitness to stand trial
• Healthcare law
• Domestic violence
• Immigration proceedings
• Guardianship
• Veteran status hearings
• Child custody evaluations

Consultations at BPC provide many opportunities for court testimony.

The faculty at BPC includes the program director and the associate program director. They share overall responsibility for education and training, both on-site and throughout the program, and directly train fellows for three to four hours a week. The faculty also supervises the statewide and non-state cases referred to the program for evaluation and consultation.

Fellows are generally actively involved in three to five consultations at any time, including both BPC and statewide work. Forensic fellows must spend two full days a week at BPC during the training year or a full-time equivalent of four-and-a-half months.

Westchester Jewish Community Services 
Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS) is a nonsectarian, not-for-profit agency that serves children, adolescents and adults of all ages.

Fellows are assigned to the Court Assessment Program, a WJCS division that provides evaluations for the Westchester County Family, Domestic Violence and Supreme Courts. The Program offers mental health evaluations for adults and children who are involved in ongoing custody and visitation proceedings, as well as for children and adolescents engaged in delinquency proceedings. The Court Assessment Program’s goal is always to act in the best interests of the child or children involved. Evaluations objectively inform the court about the parental capacity of adult parties involved and the emotional, educational and social adjustment of children who are either subjects in custody proceedings or respondents in delinquency cases. Evaluations are intended to assist judges in making dispositions in these cases.

Fellows are trained to conduct forensic mental health evaluations for custody and visitation, as well as delinquency/person in need of supervision (PINS) cases. A child under 18 who does not attend school or behaves dangerously or acts out of control, or often disobeys their parents, guardians or other authorities, may be found to be a PINS. All PINS proceedings are heard in family court.

After an initial period of observing evaluations, fellows will conduct evaluations and complete a report under the guidance of the site supervisor. The reports will be presented to the court, and fellows will give expert testimony if necessary. Fellows will also attend lectures on issues relevant to their forensic assessments.

The faculty consists of a forensic psychologist with extensive experience performing family court cases and training fellows to do the same. The faculty provides both direct service and ongoing supervision. In addition, fellows receive at least one hour of individual supervision with a forensic faculty member each week. Fellows must dedicate one day a week for four months to this service.

Bronx Mental Health Court/Bronx TASC Mental Health Program 
The Bronx TASC Mental Health Court Program seeks to craft a meaningful response to the problems posed by defendants in the criminal justice system suffering from mental illness. It offers an alternative to incarceration by evaluating, placing and monitoring defendants who are referred for possible diversion from jail and prison into residential and outpatient mental health settings. Working with the diversion service provides the fellows with active exposure to this increasingly important area of forensic psychiatry.

The Bronx TASC office is near the Bronx Criminal Court and Bronx Supreme Court buildings.

Patients in this group have usually been charged with a felony and, if not diverted into treatment under court supervision, face prison time. Each defendant referred is evaluated comprehensively for a history of mental illness and current clinical condition, and a risk assessment is conducted. Most cases where pleas are taken and diversion is approved are transferred to a specially created mental health court for monitoring.

Each week, the fellow evaluates at least one new referral and participates in the diversion team’s review of upcoming cases that require evaluation and/or monitoring. In addition to gaining further experience in evaluating patients and defendants in a forensic setting, diagnosing mentally ill offenders and conducting risk assessments, fellows are exposed to the dynamics of court-based diversion. These include:

• What kinds of defendants are referred and how the mental health system views them
• The particular challenges of running a diversion service
• Opportunities to participate in ongoing multisystem collaboration and research in diversion

The forensic faculty at Bronx TASC consists of the fellowship program director, associate program director and a forensic psychologist, who provide direct and ongoing supervision. Fellows receive at least one hour of individual supervision weekly with a forensic faculty member. The forensic fellows must spend one full day a week for four months on this service.

Sing Sing Correctional Facility/Prison-Based Mental Health Service 
Sing Sing Correctional Facility is located in Ossining, New York, about 20 miles from Montefiore Einstein. Sing Sing is a maximum security prison with:

• A general population census of about 300 active patients, most on psychotropic medication, with diagnoses ranging from active psychosis to persistent character pathology
• An outpatient satellite unit with a 21-bed crisis unit (with six mental observation cells)
• An intermediate care unit (a day hospital) model with 74 beds

The clinical director of the mental health unit and the unit chief coordinate the Program and provide on-site clinical guidance and supervision. Other teachers include social workers, psychologists and administration staff with significant experience in correctional psychiatry.

The fellow functions as part of the mental health team, attends morning rounds and evaluates admissions to the residential unit. Caseloads average 12 to 15 patients. Outpatient responsibilities include initial psychiatric evaluations and continuing medication cases. Four hours on site are devoted to these duties, and caseloads average six to seven patients. Clinical training also occurs in the Intermediate Care Unit (ICU), Community Orientation and Reentry Program (CORP) unit, Residential Crisis Treatment Program (RCTP) and Special Housing Unit (SHU). Participation in community meetings and Director of Clinical Skills Education (DOCS) programming is also available for those interested. Fellows devote six hours to these duties.

Our fellows spend two full days a week for four months at Sing Sing. Depending on individual interest, fellows also have opportunities to visit and spend time at related facilities, including:

• The Central New York Psychiatric Center (CNYPC) in Marcy, New York
• Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, New York State’s only maximum security facility for women

NYC Department of Mental Health & Hygiene (DOHMH)/Correctional Health Service Mental Health Services 
The mission of the Correctional Health Services Division of the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation is to provide quality mental healthcare to individuals in the custody of the New York City Department of Corrections. Mental health services provided include the identification, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. The NYC Department of Corrections houses both sentenced and detained adult and adolescent males and females at eight sites, seven of which are on Rikers Island.

In addition to mental health staff (e.g. psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, discharge planners and activity therapists), the facility is run by a full complement of medical staff, including physicians, physician assistants, nurses, substance use disorder counselors and dentists. At any given time, mental health services are provided to approximately 25% of all inmates on Rikers Island.

Our forensic psychiatry fellows receive:

• Training in conducting mental health assessments and continuing mental health treatment within the context of the correctional setting
• An orientation to all services, policies and procedures
• An orientation to Department of Corrections rules and regulations
• Exposure to clinical administrative and treatment decision-making within a correctional setting

Our fellows spend one full day a week for four months at Rikers Island.

Correctional Health Services Forensic Psychiatric Evaluation Court Clinics (FPECC) 
The four court clinics in the respective county/borough courthouses (Bronx, Brooklyn/Staten Island, Manhattan and Queens)—a forensic evaluative division rather than a treatment division within the larger correctional health services—are responsible for conducting competency-to-proceed evaluations under Criminal Procedure Law Article 730 (CPL 730) and pre-sentencing evaluations under Criminal Procedure Law Article 390 (CPL 390) for defendants with cases in the Criminal and Supreme Courts in New York City, the majority of whom are detained in the New York City jails. CPL 730 requires that two qualified examiners (board-eligible psychiatrists and/or licensed psychologists) conduct each evaluation and promptly prepare written reports for the court. Defendants, whether in custody or at liberty, are either produced in person to the relevant clinic or evaluated remotely via video conference. Court testimony regarding CPL 730 evaluations is occasionally required at judicial hearings.

Fellows conduct court-ordered psychiatric evaluations of adult criminal defendants related to competence to stand trial or pre-sentencing investigations in Manhattan and the Bronx and prepare the required written reports. Both direct and indirect supervision are provided by the Manhattan FPECC director and experienced colleagues during the court clinic rotation.

Our fellows spend one full day a week on the FPECC rotation for four months.

Our fellows enjoy many research opportunities. We expect them to participate in ongoing division work or develop an independent project and give a year-end presentation.

We also encourage fellows to submit abstracts for presentations at the annual meeting. Past submissions have covered a wide range of topics, including:

• Legal research into liability issues
• Risk assessment in mentally ill offenders
• Emergency department care
• Comparison studies of sexual offenders
• The ethics involved when psychiatric patients must decide on elective surgery

Residents must be graduates of an accredited psychiatric residency training program, at least the postgraduate year five (PGY-5) level, and eligible for licensure in New York State.

Applications for the 2026-2027 Fellowship Year

Forensic psychiatry fellowship program directors of the Association of Directors of Forensic Psychiatry Fellowships (ADFPF) have chosen to use the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) in the 2025 forensic psychiatry fellow selection process for the 2026-2027 Academic Year. The key dates for the 2026-2027 Academic Year application process are:

• July 2, 2025 - Applicants may apply to forensic psychiatry fellowships via ERAS.
• July 16, 2025 - Forensic psychiatry fellowship programs begin to review applications on the ERAS platform.
• July 16, 2025 and after - Forensic psychiatry fellowship programs interview applicants via Thalamus (or other optional platforms).

Forensic psychiatry fellowship program directors have also chosen to use the National Residency Match Program (NRMP aka "The Match") in the 2025 forensic psychiatry fellow selection process for the 2026-2027 Academic Year. The key dates (tentative) for the 2026-2027 Academic Year Match are:

• August 6, 2025 - Match Registration opens.
• September 3, 2025 - Ranking opens.
• September 17, 2025 - Quota Change and Withdrawal deadline.
• October 8, 2025 - Rank Order List Certification deadline.
• October 22, 2025 - Match Day. Unfilled/Unmatched Lists available.

Forensic psychiatry fellowship program directors have agreed that forensic psychiatry fellowships may not make fellowship offers to applicants outside of The Match, unless the program is attempting to fill an unfilled position after Match Day. This is consistent with the All-In Policy of The Match that the ADFPF has adopted.

Application requirements include:

1. Photo
2. Curriculum vitae
3. Personal statement of one single-spaced page or less that explains your interest and/or experience in forensic psychiatry
4. At least one additional writing sample (e.g. de-identified forensic report or psychiatric evaluation, published manuscript of which you are the first author) – PLEASE NOTE: This cannot be submitted via ERAS. You can send your writing sample directly to Dr. Jahdi
5. Copy of medical school diploma
6. Copy of the Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) certificate (if applicable)
7. Copy of current medical license(s)
8. Copy of United States Medical Licensing Examination/Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE/COMLEX) scores
9. Proof of citizenship or visa status (if applicable), such as a birth certificate, passport or green card
10. Official copy of medical school transcript and Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE), formerly known as the dean’s letter
11. 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

Residents with further training in child and adolescent psychiatry are encouraged to apply.

Our program accepts candidates on J-1 and H1B visas.

Completing the program requires meeting the competency standards in each critical area of forensic psychiatry. At the start of the fellowship year, competency standards and evaluation forms are distributed to fellows.

For more information, please contact:

Maryam Jahdi, MD, MPH
Associate Director, Fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry
Bronx Psychiatric Center
1500 Waters Place
Bronx, NY 10451

Phone: 929-348-3239
Fax: 929-348-3241
Email: maryam.jahdi@omh.ny.gov

Please contact Dr. Jahdi for comprehensive and up-to-date information about the benefit options within the New York State Office of Mental Health. The forensic psychiatry fellowship salary aligns with posted New York State salaries, updated annually and currently $104,000 for the PGY-5 year.

Our fellows have gone on to have successful careers in a variety of settings throughout North America. Many graduates have chosen to enter private practice, while others have worked in civil, forensic or correctional-based facilities.

Leadership roles:

• Associate Commissioner, Division of Forensic Services, New York State Office of Mental Health
• Associate Clinical Director, Bronx Psychiatric Center
• Assistant Director, Division of Forensic Services, Bronx Psychiatric Center
• Assistant Medical Director, Southwest Connecticut Mental Health System
• Associate Medical Director, Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services
• Associate Program Director, Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship, Montefiore Einstein School of Medicine (SOM)
• Chair, Department of Psychiatry, St. Barnabas Hospital (SBH) Health System
• Clinical Director, Sing Sing Correctional Facility
• Deputy Director, Mental Health Services – Division of Health Care Services, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
• Director, Emergency Department (ED) Services, Montefiore Einstein, Wakefield Division
• Director, Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program, St. Louis University School of Medicine
• Director, Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program, University of Michigan School of Medicine
• Director, Outpatient Services, Palo Alto, Virginia
• Medical Director, Aetna Better Health of Texas
• Medical Director, APT Foundation
• Medical Director, Pre-Release Services, New York State Office of Mental Health Corrections-Based Operations

Correctional and forensic psychiatry positions at:

• Bedford Hills Correctional Facility
• Bellevue Hospital, Forensic Inpatient Service
• Bronx Psychiatric Center
• California Department of Corrections
• Central New York Psychiatric Center VTC Unit
• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Forensic Inpatient Service
• Fishkill Correctional Facility
• Horizon Juvenile Center
• Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center
• Manhattan Forensic Psychiatric Evaluation Court Clinic
• Rockland Psychiatric Center, Forensic Division
• Sing Sing Correctional Facility

Inpatient and outpatient psychiatry positions at:

• Albany Medical Center
• Andrew Rader U.S. Army Health Clinic
• Bronx Psychiatric Center
• Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center
• Garnet Health Medical Center
• Glen Falls Hospital
• Gracie Square Hospital
• Massachusetts General Hospital – Brigham
• Montefiore Einstein
• Private practice
• St. Louis University School of Medicine
• The Institute for Family Health
• University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
• Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

Dr. Rotter is a forensic psychiatrist with the New York State Office of Mental Health (NYS OMH) and a faculty member at Montefiore Einstein, where he serves as Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Division of Law and Psychiatry for the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. In his OMH role, Dr. Rotter is Senior Forensic Advisor to the Commissioner of the Director of NYS OMH, Director of the Division of Forensic Services at the Bronx Psychiatric Center and Co-Chair of the NYS OMH Social Determinants of Mental Health Workgroup. Dr. Rotter received his BA/MD from the Boston University Six-Year Combined Liberal Arts Medical Education Program.

Trained in clinical psychiatry at Columbia and forensic psychiatry at Yale, Dr. Rotter leads a teaching, research and clinical service program for Montefiore Einstein and OMH. Dr. Rotter is the creator and Project Director of Sensitizing Providers to the Effects of Correctional Incarceration on Treatment and Risk Management (SPECTRM), a research, training and treatment program aimed at helping to meet the needs of individuals with mental illness who have a history of incarceration. He helped design and implement the curriculum for the Center for Urban Community Services (CUCS) Academy for Justice Informed Services, established in 2012. He provides clinical oversight for the mental health diversion, reentry and home healthcare coordination services at EAC, Inc.

In 2009, Dr. Rotter received the Award for Outstanding Teacher in a Forensic Fellowship Program from the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. In 2017, Dr. Rotter was awarded Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Teacher of the Year from the NYU School of Medicine for his contributions to the didactic curriculum shared by all the NYC-based forensic fellowships. Dr. Rotter’s research interests include risk assessment, violence risk management, mental health diversion, assessing and addressing the medical, behavioral health, social service and engagement challenges of individuals with serious mental illness and criminal/legal contact, as well as the social determinant and social justice aspects that relate to all of the above areas.