Dr. Claudette Brown-Williams

Dr. Claudette Brown-Williams is a consultant pulmonologist at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) in Kingston — Jamaica's premier academic teaching hospital, affiliated with the University of the West Indies (UWI). With 15 years of respiratory medicine practice, Dr. Brown-Williams is one of Jamaica's leading specialist pulmonologists, managing a high-volume outpatient and inpatient respiratory caseload.

Jamaica faces a significant burden of respiratory disease: asthma has one of the highest prevalence rates in the Caribbean, tuberculosis persists as a public health challenge, and COPD is increasing with tobacco use and occupational dust exposure. Dr. Brown-Williams's practice addresses this burden across the full spectrum of respiratory medicine.

The University Hospital of the West Indies is the main referral centre for respiratory disease in Jamaica and serves patients from across the island and from smaller English-speaking Caribbean islands whose health systems lack pulmonology specialist capacity.

Dr. Brown-Williams completed her MBBS and DM (Internal Medicine) at the University of the West Indies — the region's leading medical school, with campuses in Jamaica, Trinidad, and Barbados. She passed the MRCP (UK) examination and completed a Certificate in Respiratory Medicine through structured attachment at a UK respiratory centre, gaining experience in bronchoscopy, pleural disease management, and interstitial lung disease. She is a member of the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) and attends the annual CHEST conference to update her clinical practice. Her MRCP (UK) qualification is recognised throughout the English-speaking Caribbean as a mark of international clinical excellence and underpins her practice in pulmonology at UHWI.

Dr. Brown-Williams manages the full range of respiratory conditions. In asthma, she manages difficult-to-control and severe asthma, including referral assessment for biologic therapy. In COPD, she implements GOLD guideline-based therapy optimisation, pulmonary rehabilitation coordination, and non-invasive ventilation initiation. She performs diagnostic bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage and endobronchial biopsy for lung cancer staging and diagnosis of pulmonary infiltrates. She manages pleural disease with thoracentesis and coordinates medical thoracoscopy for undiagnosed pleural effusion. In tuberculosis, she manages drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant TB in collaboration with the National Chest Hospital. She also manages interstitial lung disease, pulmonary hypertension, and obstructive sleep apnoea with CPAP initiation.

The UHWI serves patients from across Jamaica and from smaller Caribbean islands with limited pulmonology specialist access, including the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, and British Virgin Islands. Dr. Brown-Williams offers video consultations for patients in remote Jamaican parishes and for patients from Caribbean nations without specialist pulmonology services. She consults in English. Her practice is particularly valued by patients from British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean who require specialist respiratory care that is not available locally and who can access Jamaica as the nearest English-speaking tertiary care centre. Medical documentation and insurance reports can be prepared for regional and international insurance providers.

Dr. Brown-Williams holds the MRCP (UK) and the DM (Internal Medicine) from UWI — the highest clinical credentials in the Anglophone Caribbean. She is a member of the Caribbean Thoracic Association and has contributed to respiratory disease management guidelines for the Caribbean region. She participates in WHO Jamaica tuberculosis elimination programme activities. She received the Caribbean Thoracic Association Award for Excellence in Clinical Pulmonology for her work on COPD management in the Jamaican population and has published in the West Indian Medical Journal on tuberculosis outcomes and asthma management in Jamaica.