OU College of Medicine Department Chair Honored by National Forensic Psychiatry Organization

Britta Ostermeyer, M.D., MBA, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine at OU Health Sciences, was recently honored by the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL) for her service to the organization and dedication to forensic psychiatry, a field at the intersection of mental illness and the law.

AAPL presented the Outstanding Service Award, called a Red AAPL, to Ostermeyer at its annual meeting in Chicago. Ostermeyer has been a member of AAPL since 2001 and has served as a councilor and as vice president. She currently serves as treasurer, board member, co-chair of the membership committee and fundraising committee chair for the AAPL foundation. She is also the co-chair of the Rappeport Fellowship Committee, a position she has held for 12 years.

The Rappeport Fellowship Award is given annually to six senior medical residents in the United States who have an interest in forensic psychiatry. In 2001, Ostermeyer herself received the award, which sparked her interest in forensic psychiatry. Under the mentorship of a senior forensic psychiatrist, she immersed herself in the field and completed a fellowship at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, one of the nation’s leading academic institutions for forensic psychiatry. The Rappeport Fellowship Award is named for Jonas Rappeport, M.D., who founded AAPL in 1969. It is the largest organization of forensic psychiatrists with 2,000 members from around the world.

As a board-certified forensic psychiatrist, Ostermeyer serves as an expert in civil, criminal and administrative cases in Oklahoma. She provides evaluations for competency to stand trial cases, insanity defenses, competency to be executed cases and others.

Ostermeyer also works closely with her neuropsychology colleagues in the department, who provide cognitive evaluations for licensing boards, such as those for attorneys, physicians, nurses and airline pilots, when cognitive impairment is suspected. The OU Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences offers a post-doctoral training program in clinical neuropsychology, one of the most established in the country, having graduated its first resident in 1979.

“In forensic cases, we’re not in the role of treater, and the person evaluated is not in the role of patient,” she said. “Our role is to be neutral and to find the truth. We are proud to provide this service to the community and the state.”

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OU College of Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences
Founded in 1910, the OU College of Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center trains the next generation of healthcare professionals. The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center is the academic partner of OU Health, the state’s only comprehensive academic health system of hospitals, clinics and centers of excellence. With campuses in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, the College of Medicine offers the state’s only Doctor of Medicine degree program and a nationally competitive Physician Assistant program. For more information, visit medicine.ouhsc.edu.

Caption for photo:
Britta Ostermeyer, M.D., MBA, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the OU College of Medicine, receives the Outstanding Service Award from the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL). Presenting the award is Charles Scott, M.D., award committee chair, previous APPL president, and Ostermeyer’s former mentor.