Dr. Patience Brownell

Dr. Patience Brownell is an internal medicine physician at JFK Memorial Hospital in Monrovia, and one of a very small number of specialist internists practising in Liberia. With 13 years of clinical experience, she manages the complex medical presentations that fill JFK's inpatient medical wards — a patient population characterised by the intersection of HIV, tuberculosis, malnutrition, and emerging non-communicable diseases including hypertension and diabetes. Liberia's per-capita physician density is among the lowest in the world, and Dr. Brownell's specialist expertise is therefore stretched across an unusually high patient volume, making efficiency, clinical judgment under uncertainty, and robust triage skills essential to her daily work. She is the clinical lead for the PEPFAR-supported HIV treatment programme at JFK, overseeing antiretroviral therapy initiation, monitoring, and adherence support for a large panel of HIV-positive patients, many of whom have advanced disease and concurrent tuberculosis. Dr. Brownell is also involved in building Liberia's specialist medical workforce, supervising physician assistant students and junior medical officers in the medical ward and mentoring Liberian physicians pursuing specialist training abroad. She is widely respected in Monrovia's medical community for her clinical rigour and her dedication to evidence-based care in a resource-constrained setting.

Dr. Brownell completed her MD at the A.M. Dogliotti College of Medicine at the University of Liberia. Recognising the need for specialist training that was unavailable within Liberia, she pursued her MMed (Internal Medicine) at the University of Ghana Medical School in Accra — one of West Africa's leading institutions for postgraduate medical training and a member of the West African College of Physicians network. She holds a Certificate in HIV Medicine and has participated in advanced training in non-communicable disease management through WACP and CDC-supported programmes. She is a full member of the West African College of Physicians.

Dr. Brownell's clinical expertise spans the full range of internal medicine subspecialties relevant to the Liberian disease context. Her HIV expertise encompasses initiation and monitoring of antiretroviral therapy, management of AIDS-defining illnesses including Pneumocystis pneumonia, cryptococcal meningitis, and disseminated tuberculosis, and the clinical management of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. She manages cardiovascular risk factors including hypertension and dyslipidaemia, diabetic emergencies including ketoacidosis and hyperglycaemic crisis, and adult respiratory conditions including community-acquired pneumonia and pleural effusions. She is skilled in lumbar puncture, pleural aspiration, and basic IV fluid management. She also manages sickle cell disease in the adult population — an important competency given the condition's prevalence in West Africa.

Dr. Brownell has contributed clinical and programmatic data to PEPFAR Liberia's HIV programme evaluation, including analysis of treatment outcomes and retention-in-care rates at JFK Memorial Hospital. She participated in a West African College of Physicians-supported study on non-communicable disease burden in Liberia and has contributed to case reports published in the West African Journal of Medicine. She presented at the LMDA annual conference on challenges in antiretroviral therapy management in Liberia's post-Ebola health system.

Dr. Brownell conducts all consultations in English and is well equipped to serve international patients including humanitarian workers, UN and NGO staff, and members of the large Liberian diaspora in the United States who return home for visits. She provides health assessments, chronic disease evaluations, and HIV screening for international visitors and coordinates referrals to Ghana, Senegal, or Côte d'Ivoire for specialist investigations and procedures unavailable in Liberia, including advanced imaging, cardiac procedures, and oncological care.

Dr. Brownell was recognised by PEPFAR Liberia for her leadership in the HIV treatment programme at JFK Memorial Hospital and for achieving sustained improvement in viral load suppression rates among her patient cohort. She received a commendation from the Liberian Medical and Dental Association for excellence in specialist practice and mentorship, and was selected as a WACP delegate to represent Liberia at the West African Health Organisation's regional health science conference.