Ashley VanDercar

Ashley VanDercar, MD, JD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and the Associate Program Director for the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine / University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center.

Dr. VanDercar began her professional career as an attorney, working in the healthcare field. In 2012, she enrolled in medical school at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. After obtaining her medical degree, she completed an adult psychiatry residency and forensic psychiatry fellowship at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. She is board certified in adult and forensic psychiatry.

Dr. VanDercar’s scholarly work spans a range of forensic subjects, including the insanity defense, school shootings, and terrorism. She has published and presented nationally on topics ranging from psychiatric malpractice to mental illness in cult leaders. She also lectures for the Cleveland Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Training and co-teaches a semester-long course at the University of Akron School of Law.

Clinically, Dr. VanDercar leads an inpatient competence to stand trial evaluation and restoration unit at a state hospital. In that capacity, she is actively involved in educating and supervising medical students, psychiatry residents, and forensic psychiatry fellows.