The Psychiatry Residency Training Program at the American University of Beirut (AUB) is a four-year program that offers an exceptional opportunity for qualified medical doctors to achieve their goal of becoming accomplished psychiatrists. Our program is recognized by the Lebanese Order of Physicians (LOP) and is the only program in Lebanon to be accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education - International (ACGME-I).
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Elias Ghossoub, MD Program Director
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Mrs. Nibal Safah |
Vision
The vision of AUB’s Department of Psychiatry is to become the leading center for psychiatry in the Middle East with special focus on excellent clinical care, research, training and patient advocacy. Our program fully endorses this vision and aims to maintain its regional leadership role in training and graduating highly skilled psychiatrists.
Mission
Our program’s mission is to develop and graduate competent and ethical psychiatrists. We provide excellent training in the diagnosis, prevention, management and study of mental disorders. Our program prepares its graduates to deliver high quality, culturally competent specialized care using all the treatment modalities available to the modern psychiatrist; these include medications, psychotherapy and neuromodulation techniques. Furthermore, our program fosters each trainee’s teaching and research skills, as we believe that they are as essential as clinical training for the trainee to achieve his/her professional goals. Our graduates are outstanding psychiatrists who are equipped to serve their communities by practicing evidence-based psychiatry, conducting consequential research and teaching students and peers.
Current Psychiatry Residents
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Ahmad Sabalbal
PGY I
| Lauren Hourani
PGY 1
| Elissa Khalil
PGY 1
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Yara El Frenn
PGY II
| Alfred Chabbouh
PGY II
| Roua Abbas
PGY II
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Lea Daou
PGY III
| Fadi Constantinos
PGY III
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Rawan Koleilat
PGY IV
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Majida Al Kurdi
PGY IV
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Admission Requirements
We believe that diversity is key to creating an environment of collaborative learning and teamwork. We therefore strive to recruit a diverse group of incoming residents. Our application process meets all requirements for equal employment opportunity in insuring that all qualified applicants are afforded a review without discrimination based on age, sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability or any other applicable legally protected status.
Applicants who graduated from AUB’s medical school shall be required to submit:
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An online application available on the GME website.
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Certification of Identification Form, which shall be emailed to the applicant after submission of the online application.
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One recent, passport size, colored photograph of the applicant to be pasted on the Certification of Identification Form.
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A photocopy of the applicant’s valid identity card.
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A personal statement detailing the applicant’s interest in psychiatry and future career plans.
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A Curriculum Vitae (CV) prepared within three months of the application.
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A certified copy of the medical school transcript of record.
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A certified copy of the Medical Doctor (MD) degree (if applicable).
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An official score report of the USMLE Step 2 CK or IFOM CSE.
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A minimum of three letters of recommendation provided by faculty members who had a direct academic contact with the applicant.
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A certified copy of the license to practice Medicine issued by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health (if applicable; required only from Lebanese nationals and citizens).
Applicants who graduated from other medical schools shall be required to submit:
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An online application available on the GME website.
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Certification of Identification Form, which shall be emailed to the applicant after submission of the online application.
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Two recent, passport size, colored photographs of the applicant.
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A photocopy of the applicant’s valid identity card.
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A personal statement detailing the applicant’s interest in psychiatry and future career plans.
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A Curriculum Vitae (CV) prepared within three months of the application.
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A certified copy of the medical school transcript of record.
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A certified copy of the Medical Doctor (MD) degree, if applicable. If not applicable, a Dean’s letter from the applicant’s medical school.
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Official score reports of the USMLE Step 1 (or IFOM BSE) and USMLE Step 2 CK (or IFOM CSE).
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A minimum of three letters of recommendation provided by faculty members who had a direct academic contact with the applicant.
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An application fee set by the GME office.
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Examination fees for the IFOM BSE and IFOM CSE (if applicable).
Program Structure
Every training year is divided into blocks of a standard duration of four weeks. Residents rotate in different programs and training sites with responsibilities and supervision levels commensurate with their level of training. The rotation schedule is prepared by the Chief resident(s).
Our program’s main training site is the AUB medical center. AUBMC is a tertiary care hospital in Beirut, with a catchment area reaching the Middle East. Training experiences within AUBMC include:
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Psychiatric Inpatient Unit: A specialized unit that currently has a five-bed capacity, staffed by trained nurses and support staff. It provides acute pharmacological and psychological care to patients of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds and with a wide variety of mental disorders. The unit houses a state-of-the-art electroconvulsive unit unique in the Middle East region.
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Psychiatric Outpatient Clinics: The Department of Psychiatry offers comprehensive clinical services to patients with a wide range of mental disorders.
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Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology (CAPP): The CAPP division provides a wide range of clinical services, including diagnostic assessments, medication management, individual and group psychotherapy, and patient and family psychoeducation.
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Consultation-Liaison (CL) Psychiatry: The CL team provides psychiatric services to hospitalized patients and receives on average 10 consultation requests per week. The CL team uses a multidisciplinary approach and collaborates with the primary and consultant teams to help patients during their stay.
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Emergency Psychiatry: AUBMC’s Emergency Department has a busy 24/7 service with a high turnover. The average requests for psychiatric consultations in the Emergency Department is 10 per week.
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Addiction Psychiatry: Individualized patient care is provided in an inpatient and/or outpatient setting (within the Dr. Agnes Varis Healing Program). Services include medication management as well as psychotherapy.
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Geriatric Psychiatry.
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Forensic Psychiatry.
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Psychological Therapies: These include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and supportive therapy.
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Neuromodulation Therapies: These include electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) services.
Our senior residents are provided the opportunity to rotate in other training sites to broaden their experience and exposure. The Hôtel-Dieu de France (HDF) hospital in Beirut has been established as a training site thanks to an exchange agreement between the Departments of Psychiatry in AUB and USJ. Additionally, senior residents are encouraged to take elective rotations in training institutions abroad.
Call Schedule
The residents’ work schedule complies with the ACGME-I duty hours requirements as described in the GME policy 17-002. There is at least one resident on duty every day, covered by an attending psychiatrist. Duty hours are limited to 80 hours per week, averaged over a four-week period, inclusive of all in-house call activities. Additionally, residents are provided with one day in seven free from all educational and clinical responsibilities, averaged over a four-week period. Adequate time for rest and personal activities is provided.
PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents cover the majority of on-site calls. PGY-1 and PGY-4 residents can cover calls depending on their rotations and program needs. On-site call occurs no more frequently than every third night. The psychiatry on-call schedule is prepared by the Chief resident(s).
Teaching Activities
We consider teaching activities to be critical in the development of our trainees. Our program’s teaching activities include a didactic and psychopharmacology curricula, journal club, case conferences, morbidity and mortality conferences, psychotherapy workshops and grand rounds. Residents are expected to attend at least 80% of their assigned teaching activities.
Furthermore, residents are actively involved in teaching medical students on their psychiatry clerkship rotation.
Research
Research literacy is an essential skill for residents to acquire in order to develop into competent psychiatrists. We highly encourage the residents to engage in research activities. We are committed to conduct research that strictly abides by the ethical principles of respect for persons, beneficence and justice.
Wellness
We are dedicated to fostering and improving residents’ wellbeing. Residents have active roles in the functioning of the program and their suggestions and concerns are brought to the attention of the Program Director either through the regular meetings on the first Friday of every month or through ad hoc meetings. These meetings’ agendas are prepared in collaboration with the Chief Resident and the Program Coordinator. The Program Director ensures that the residents are heard and their concerns addressed in a timely manner.
We focus on building a positive resident culture with many extracurricular activities held such as annual holidays events, semi-annual Jeopardy! contests and a farewell dinner celebrating graduating residents.
Contact Us
For additional information, please contact Ms. Nibal Safah at
ns54@aub.edu.lb
or 00961-1-3500000, ext.: 5664.
If you are interested in applying to our program, please visit the
GME link
