Landy F. Sparr, M.D., M.A., F.A.P.A.
- Specialty:
- Psychiatry
- Special Interest:
- Psychiatry (Forensics)
- Accepting Patients:
- Yes
- Languages:
- English
Academic and Clinical Positions
Director, Forensic Psychiatry Training Program, OHSU
Biography
Dr. Sparr joined the OHSU Department of Psychiatry faculty in 1979. He was a staff psychiatrist and Director of the Emergency Room Psychiatry Program at the Portland VA Medical Center from 1979 to 1983. In 1983, he became Acting Chief of the Mental Health Outpatient Clinic at the VA, and shortly thereafter, Assistant Chief of Psychiatry Service. In 1987, he was appointed Chief of Psychiatric Outpatient Services, and in 1994, Acting Chief of Psychiatry Service. He served as Acting Clinical Director of the Mental Health Division at the Portland VA from 1995-2000. Dr. Sparr's clinical interests are in the areas of psychiatric evaluation, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and forensic psychiatry. In 1982, Dr. Sparr and his colleagues were the first to describe and predict the onslaught of post-traumatic stress disorder disability claims in the Veterans Administration (VA); they developed a protocol that has been widely used for the assessment of these claims. In 1983, they were the first to describe the condition that has become known as factitious post-traumatic stress disorder whereby individuals make fraudulent claims of military combat service in Vietnam. In 1989, they published an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association describing a hospital protocol for violence reduction among high risk patients. This protocol has been adopted by hospitals throughout the United States. Dr. Sparr has written at least three journal articles that are now considered seminal works. In 1998, because of his academic interest in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the law, Dr. Sparr was contacted by a lead prosecutor at the United Nations International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to testify in what is known as the Celebici case. His testimony in that case led directly to his interest in the use of psychiatric defenses in international criminal law. Dr. Sparr currently teaches forensic psychiatry to residents and medical students, and is Director of the OSHU Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program. Dr. Sparr's research interests are in the study of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, and the international use of mental incapacity defenses. He currently serves as a journal referee for ten psychiatric publications and has served as an intramural grant reviewer for VA merit review research proposals on PTSD.
Professional Education
- Degrees:
B.S., University of Wisconsin, 1966
M.A., niversity of Wisconsin Graduate School of History, 1973
M.D., University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, 1976
-
Residency:
Internship, Medicine & Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 1977
Psychiatry Residency, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 1979
Certifications
-
Certifications:
Psychiatry, 1982
Forensic Psychiatry, 1999
