Teaching forensic psychiatry to general psychiatry residents

The Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires that general psychiatry residency training programs provide trainees with exposure to forensic psychiatry. Limited information is available on how to develop a core curriculum in forensic psychiatry for general psychiatry residents and few articles have been published on the topic.

The objective of this article is to provide an overview of forensic psychiatry topics likely to be of benefit to general psychiatry residents.

The article is intended to be a springboard for future development of forensic curricula suitable for residents rather than a blueprint for an educational program.

Although most general psychiatry residents will not specialize in forensic psychiatry, a working knowledge of basic concepts in forensic psychiatry should be considered an important component of general psychiatry education.