Residency Training Program in Psychiatry

Residency Training Program
in Psychiatry

Whiting Forensic Division of
Connecticut Valley Hospital

Whiting Forensic Division of Connecticut Valley Hospital
Patrick Fox MD, Medical Director, Rotation Supervisor; Charles Dike MD: Brenda Planck MD, Sabita Rathi MD;
John Young MD

Forensic Services Division, Connecticut Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services
Michael Norko MD, Directory of Forensic Services, Connecticut State Department Of Mental Health and Addiction Services; Paul Amble MD, Medical Director; Patrick Fox MD; Alec Buchanan MD; Kevin Trueblood MD

The Whiting Forensic Division of CVH operates 270 inpatient beds located in Middletown, Connecticut. The hospital is accredited by JCAHO and CMS It is 35 miles from New Haven (45-minute drive). The Whiting Unit is a maximum-security facility under the aegis of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and receives patients from several sources including: patients are transferred from other state hospitals if they are felt to be too dangerous to be managed in more open settings; the Department of Corrections also transfers patients from prison if they become sufficiently disturbed so that more intensive treatment is necessary than can be provided in the prison setting; and persons who are found not guilty by reason of insanity are evaluated and treated in this facility until they are deemed sufficiently safe to be released or transferred. The unit also accepts individuals found incompetent to stand trial who require maximum-security custody. The Dutcher Unit provides treatment of insanity acquittees oriented toward community re-integration, and also serves one unit of civil patients, most of whom are mentally ill criminal offenders (mostly sex offenders). The Battell Unit provides treatment to restore competence to stand trial for those defendants not requiring maximum-security custody.

The Dutcher unit provides treatment of insanity acquittees oriented toward community re-integration, and also serves one unit of civil patients, most of whom are mentally ill criminal offenders (mostly sex offenders). Patients are adults with significant psychiatry diagnoses such as schizophrenia, mood disorders, cognitive disorders, paraphilias, and substance abuse.

Patients are adults with significant psychiatry diagnoses such as schizophrenia, mood disorders, cognitive disorders, paraphilias, and substance abuse.

Forensic training includes year-long individual psychotherapy, risk assessments, treatment refusal evaluations, pre-sentencing evaluations and competency assessments.

Forensic residents are responsible for one-hour individual therapy weekly for six months on two insanity acquittees, one pre-sentencing evaluation per year, and remaining evaluations (dangerousness, competency and treatment refusal) as they arise. Psychiatric faculty consists of nine full-time forensic psychiatrists. Supervision is done on site for at least one hour per week. On-site didactics include sessions on issues in forensic and correction settings. Supervision is coordinated by Michael Norko, MD; didactics are coordinated by Patrick Fox, MD.

Last modified: February 12, 2008