Elspeth Ritchie MD, MPH

Dr. Elspeth Ritchie is a forensic psychiatrist with special expertise in military and veterans’ issues. She is currently Chief of Psychiatry at Medstar Washington Hospital Center. Recent jobs have included Chief of Mental Health for the Community-Based Outpatient Clinics at the Washington, DC, VA, and Chief Clinical Officer, Department of Behavioral Health, for the District of Columbia. She retired from the Army in 2010, after holding numerous leadership positions within Army Medicine, including the Psychiatry Consultant. She trained at Harvard, George Washington, Walter Reed, and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and has completed fellowships in both forensic and preventive and disaster psychiatry.

Ritchie is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Georgetown University, and George Washington University School of Medicine. An internationally recognized expert, she brings a unique public health approach to the management of disasters and combating mental health issues. Her assignments and other missions have taken her to Korea, Somalia, Iraq, and Cuba.  She has over 250 publications, mainly in the areas of forensic, disaster, suicide, ethics, military combat psychiatry, and women’s health issues. Recent volumes include: “Forensic and Ethical Issues in Military Behavioral Health”, “Women at War”, “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Related Diseases in Combat Veterans”, “Intimacy After Injury: Restoring Sexual Health on Return from Combat”; “Psychiatrists in Combat, Clinicians Experience in the War Zone”, “Gay Mental Healthcare Providers and Patients in the Military: Personal Experiences and Clinical Care” and “Clinical Management of the Homeless Patient: Social, Medical and Psychiatric Issues”.