Current Fellows

Ish Bhalla, MD Ish grew up in Findlay, Ohio and has 3 older sisters. He earned a BS in Management from Case Western Reserve University and worked in Washington, DC as a management consulting analyst for almost 2 years before moving back to Ohio to attend medical school at the University of Toledo. He completed his psychiatry residency at Yale before starting the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship. Ish’s research interests involve teaching, clinical epidemiology, healthcare policy, and psychiatric services. He hopes to work in an academic and administrative setting after completing fellowship. In his spare time, Ish enjoys golf, movies, podcasts, and Cleveland sports.
Karsten Heil, MD Karsten was born in Frankfurt a.M., Germany. In high school, he was a Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange scholar and spent one year with a host family in a high school in rural Minnesota. He attended Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg Medical School. During medical school, he spent more than one year completing electives in psychiatry and medical genetics at the National University of Singapore, Baylor College of Medicine, and King’s College London, amongst others. He completed his psychiatry residency at the Yale School of Medicine and was Chief Resident (Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit) in his final year and a member of the Neuroscience Research Training Program. Outside of work he enjoys classical music, hitting the slopes in the winter, and reading “The Economist” as much as time allows.
Kshamta Joshi, MD Kshamta grew up in a small yet busy tourist town of Nainital in North India. Inspired by her father’s career as an anesthesiologist and her brother’s work as a dentist, in her early school years she discovered her passion to be a doctor. After graduating from the Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences with a medical degree, she decided to pursue higher education in the U.S. She gained diverse clinical and research experiences in child, adolescent and forensic field through her work as a visiting scholar at University of Washington, University of North Carolina and Metropolitan State Hospital in Los Angeles. Kshamta completed her General Psychiatry Residency training from Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in New York. She then moved on to complete her fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Elmhurst Hospital) where she served as the Chief Fellow. Kshamta’s professional interests include correctional psychiatry and its impact on children and families. She hopes to utilize her specialized training in child, adolescent and forensic psychiatry to best help her patients struggling at the interface of mental health and law.
Amanda Kingston, MD Amanda grew up in rural Missouri, the daughter of a local politician and a physician.  After high school she attended a combined program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where she received her bachelor of liberal arts and medical degree.  While working on a forensic unit in medical school her interest in both psychiatry and forensic psychiatry began to grow.  She then completed a residency in psychiatry at the University of Missouri.  There she served as administrative chief resident as well as academic chief resident.  She also became involved in medical student education and engaged in research on this topic. Also while in residency she received honors for both her clinical and teaching excellence.  She is now a fellow in forensic psychiatry with the Yale Division of Psychiatry and the Law.  Her future endeavors include pursuing a career in academic medicine and further participation and research in medical education.  In her free time she enjoys cooking, gardening, watching college football, and traveling.
Stephanie Yarnell, MD, PhD Stephanie was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She attended the University of Georgia and graduated Summa Cum Laude with Highest Honors with 3 Bachelor of Science degrees (Biology, Microbiology, and Ecology) and earned the CURO Scholar Seal for undergraduate research excellence, as well as induction into 12 honors societies including Phi Beta Kappa. She went on to join a combined MD-PhD Program. Her Ph.D. thesis work concentrated on the interface of clinical infectious disease and environmental sciences with an emphasis on the emerging epidemic of non-tuberculous mycobacteria. She graduated top of her medical school class with Honors in Medicine. She also earned numerous awards including induction into Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society and the American Academy for the Advancement of Sciences Excellence in Science Award. Stephanie completed her psychiatry residency at Yale University. During residency she was also a member of the neuroscience research track where she concentrated on addictions related research winning multiple awards including the APA Research Colloquium for Junior Investigator’s Award and the distinguished Thomas P. Detre Award. She served as a chief-resident with clinical placement on the Emergency Psychiatry service at the VA Hospital. After residency, she went on to join the Law and Psychiatry Fellowship (Forensic Psychiatry) at Yale University. In the future, she hopes to stay in academics concentrating on the interface of addiction and the legal system.
Rocksheng Zhong, MD Rocksheng grew up in New York City and attended college at Harvard, where he graduated with an A.B. in psychology. He received his M.D. and M.H.S. at Yale School of Medicine before going to the University of Pennsylvania for general psychiatry residency. Rocksheng is interested in the intersection of medicine, law, cognitive science, and ethics, and has done research on such topics as the Trolley Problem (a moral dilemma and thought experiment), remorse in criminal justice, and informed consent. He plans to pursue a career in academic forensic psychiatry.