Forensic Inpatient Service
The Forensic Inpatient Psychiatry Service is a 68-bed inpatient service that provides acute psychiatric care to adult male jail inmates from New York City. Externs are members of a treatment team on one of the service’s units where they conduct individual therapy and assessments and co-lead a group.
Patients admitted to the Inpatient Forensic Psychiatry Service for evaluation and treatment fall into several categories depending on their legal status. Pre-arraignment cases are brought to Bellevue Hospital when arresting officers, emergency services personnel, or law enforcement administrative services make a referral for psychiatric evaluation. Correction cases are arraigned patients who are either awaiting trial on Rikers Island or have already been convicted and are serving sentences of less than one year. These patients may suffer from a pre-existing mental illness or may have developed psychiatric symptoms while in jail. They are referred for psychiatric evaluation and treatment, and their average length of stay at Bellevue is 14 to 21 days. Competency cases are those referred by one of the New York City Court Psychiatric Clinics (operated by Bellevue or Kings County Hospital), or by the court itself, for longitudinal observation and/or testing in connection with a court-ordered evaluation of competency to stand trial.
Extern responsibilities include individual psychotherapy (at least one case; treatment must be three times a week); group therapy, participation in weekly treatment team meetings, the preparation of a discharge summary; intake evaluations, and the provision of psychiatric consultations to the Forensic Medical Unit. Externs also attend a weekly seminar focusing on forensic issues.
Psychological Assessment is an important part of this externship as trainees will not only conduct psychological testing with the inpatient forensic population, but with the general inpatient population as well. Referrals for assessment are frequently made to provide the treatment team with additional clinical information which may, in some cases, become part of a patient’s legal case. Assessments regularly include self-report measures of personality, projective tests, malingering tests, and occasionally neuropsychological measures.
Training Year and Time Commitment:
Academic Year (early September through June) and Summer (late May through August) programs available. Twenty hours a week required, including Thursday afternoons.
Qualifications:
Open to doctoral students enrolled in a program in Clinical, Counseling, School or Forensic Psychology who have completed at least their first year of study. Applicants must have taken at least two semesters of psychological assessment and are expected to have a basic knowledge of (1) the Wechsler Intelligence Scales, (2) the Rorschach Inkblot Method (Exner System) and (3) standard self-report measures (i.e., MMPI-2, PAI or MCMI-III). Prior externship experience is strongly recommended. Spanish speaking candidates are encouraged to apply.
Application Procedure:
Please provide:
(1) A personal statement or cover letter detailing your interest in psychology, the Forensic program, and forensic psychology/assessment. Briefly discuss your educational background and clinical experiences not otherwise reflected in your c.v. (maximum one page).
(2) A current c.v.
(3) Two writing samples. One should be an assessment (testing) report done for an assessment practicum, clinic or class; the other should be a clinical or treatment summary written for a patient you have treated in therapy (if you do not have one, please provide a detailed intake evaluation). Writing samples should be three to six pages each.
(4) Two letters of recommendation attesting to your clinical/forensic and assessment abilities and/or your potential and work ethic. One of the letters must be from a professor in your program.
(5) An official transcript from your doctoral program and a transcript (either official or student copy) from all undergraduate institutions attended.
Applications should be mailed to:
Andrew Shiva, Ph.D.,
Director of Inpatient & Forensic Assessment
Bellevue Hospital Center
First Avenue at 27th Street
Inpatient Forensic Psychiatry Service (19W33)
New York, NY 10016
Express or hand delivery is suggested. Please also e-mail a copy of your c.v. We begin reviewing applications on January 15 and select candidates on a rolling basis. For questions, please contact Dr. Shiva at (212) 562-4811 or Andrew.Shiva@bellevue.nychhc.org.