Dr. Shermaine Alexis-Bartholomew

Dr. Shermaine Alexis-Bartholomew is a respiratory physician at the General Hospital in St. George's — the primary public hospital serving Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique. With training from the University of the West Indies and postgraduate qualifications from the UK, she provides specialist respiratory care to the Grenadian population and to visiting patients. The Caribbean's high prevalence of asthma, driven by environmental triggers and genetic susceptibility, represents the core of her clinical practice, but she also manages COPD, community-acquired pneumonia, and tuberculosis. As one of a small number of specialists on the island, she often manages complex multi-system presentations that would require subspecialist referral in larger healthcare systems. Her approach is pragmatic, evidence-based, and sensitive to the resource context of a small island healthcare system.

Dr. Alexis-Bartholomew completed her MBBS at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus in Jamaica, followed by MRCP (UK) examinations, which she passed during postgraduate training in England. She then earned a Diploma in Respiratory Medicine from the University of Edinburgh — one of the UK's leading respiratory medicine programmes. Her training covered spirometry, asthma management, COPD guidelines, and respiratory physiology. She returned to Grenada to serve her home island's population and maintains professional connections through overseas membership of the British Thoracic Society. She attends Caribbean Association of Pulmonology meetings and WHO-supported respiratory health workshops in the region.

Dr. Alexis-Bartholomew's principal areas of expertise are asthma and COPD management. She runs a structured asthma clinic at General Hospital, providing diagnosis through spirometry and bronchodilator reversibility testing, inhaler technique review, and stepwise pharmacological management. She manages COPD patients with exacerbation prevention strategies and pulmonary rehabilitation advice. Community-acquired pneumonia and hospital-acquired infections involving the lungs are managed on the medical wards. She identifies and investigates suspected tuberculosis cases, initiating and supervising standard WHO four-drug regimens. Pleural effusion assessment through clinical examination and imaging, with referral for drainage when needed, is part of her practice. She also manages respiratory failure requiring non-invasive ventilation.

Dr. Alexis-Bartholomew consults in English and is accessible to international visitors and expatriates in Grenada. The island's status as both a residential hub for medical students at St. George's University and as a tourist destination means she regularly sees non-Grenadian patients with respiratory issues. Urgent consultations for respiratory emergencies are available through General Hospital's emergency department. For planned consultations, appointments are made through the hospital's outpatient department. She advises international patients with known asthma or COPD to bring their inhaler devices and a written asthma/COPD action plan when visiting Grenada.

Dr. Alexis-Bartholomew is a member of the Grenada Medical Association and an overseas member of the British Thoracic Society. She has contributed to national asthma awareness campaigns in Grenada and has been involved in spirometry screening programmes at community health centres. She mentors junior doctors completing their internal medicine rotations at General Hospital and has presented on asthma management challenges in small island healthcare systems at Caribbean health conferences.