The effect of a forensic fellowship program on general psychiatry residents' in-training examination outcomes

This article describes how the establishment and existence of a forensic psychiatry fellowship program was associated with improvements in general psychiatry residents' scores on the Psychiatry Resident In-training Examination (PRITE). Four consecutive years of general psychiatry residents' PRITE scores spanning 2 years before and 2 years after implementation of the forensic fellowship program at our institution were compared. Mixed-model statistical analyses accounting for repeated measurements of individual residents across the periods indicated statistically significant improvement in forensic content scores and several other subspecialty areas in which our institution offers educational fellowship programs. External indicators of program outcomes such as standardized examination scores may provide a useful indication of the effects that an educational fellowship program can have on general psychiatry education.