Global Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Bahamas

University of West Indies-Nassau Bahamas

The Commonwealth of The Bahamas is a young nation, achieving independence from Great Britain in 1973. This West Atlantic Archipelago spans over 750 miles and is comprised of over 700 Island and 2,400 Cays, of which about 30 are inhabited by over 400,000 persons who call The Bahamas home.

The principal institution that delivers health care in The Bahamas is the public hospital known as Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH). This Institution, built in 1952, was intended to provide healthcare for a population of 50,000. It has now grown to deliver general, emergency and specialty healthcare to the Bahamian public, inclusive of Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Neonatal Intensive care (NICU) and Oncology services. This Hospital is in the nation’s capital city of Nassau, on the Island of New Providence. It is also the primary training site for Physicians of the University of the West Indies at the graduate and postgraduate levels.

Oncology services in the Bahamas have grown exponentially in the last 30 years, in no small part due to the remarkable research and clinical work done by local Gynaecological, Medical and Surgical Oncologists, and their collaborations with centers of excellence in the United States and Canada. Unfortunately, this growth has also been driven by a high prevalence of cancer, partially due to a disproportionately large incidence of the BRCA genes, as well as social and culturally related factors. In accordance with the IGCS overarching ambition of advancing equitable patient-centered care, The Bahamas continues to fight against Gynaecological cancer one patient at a time with the aim to exhaust every measure needed to do so.

Local Supervisors

Dr. Raleigh Butler

Dr. Darron Halliday

Dr. Darron Halliday

My aim is to advance women’s health care in the Caribbean especially in the area of gynecologic oncology by working with government and academic institutions. When compared with more developed countries, gynecologic malignancies are a leading cause of death in Caribbean women. This is especially true of cervical cancer. I am devoted to increasing the knowledge of the malignancies found in Caribbean women so that we can serve their unique needs better.

As a consulting gynecologic oncology surgeon at Princess Margaret Hospital, I will be helping in participant recruitment, collection of tissue samples, patient care and patient follow-up as well as dissemination of results in this project.

Fellows

Dr. Louis Justin Pintard is the next Bahamian IGCS fellow from 2025 to 2027. He has worked in the Princess Margaret Hospital’s department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology for the last 10 years. Being a University of The West Indies trained Obstetrician gynaecologist has imparted a unique perspective on the immense burden of gynaecological cancers in the Caribbean and more specifically the Bahamian population. “I look forward to this fellowship providing the training needed for me to positively impact the dynamics of gynaecological malignancy in The Bahamas, through education, prevention, and management that is evidenced-based and compassionate.”

International Mentors

Dr. Matt Schlumbrecht
Dr. Schlumbrecht is a Professor in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in Miami, Florida. He serves as the Director for the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Program; Medical Co-Director for Research Operations, Cancer Survivorship Program; Co-Director of Cancer Control and Prevention for Gynecologic Oncology; and Translational Co-lead for the Gynecologic Oncology Site Disease Group. He also serves as the Vice Chair of Global and Community Health in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences. In this capacity he acts as the international mentor for five international gynecologic oncology fellows in Nigeria and Bahamas through the International Gynecologic Cancer Society, for which he is the co-chair for the International Mentor and Local Supervisor Resource Committee.

Dr. Katherine Tucker
Dr. Tucker is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC. She serves as the Associate Vice-Chair of Wellness for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Medical Director for Gynecologic Oncology at the Cone Health Cancer Center at Wesley Long Hospital in Greensboro, NC. 