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WINTER
2012
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opening nine centers across the world, she
lobbied the organization to open a field
study center at the Psychiatry Depart-
ment at AUB – as a portal to the Arab
region.The WHO agreed.
It was a huge task. Data from the Arab
world was practically nonexistent. Khoury
began traveling to meet Arab professionals
and sending out hundreds of question-
naires in an effort to enlist the efforts and
interest of Arab psychiatrists and psy-
chologists who will help in gathering data
about mental health diagnostic problems
in their countries. (Her deadline is 2016).
What this ultimately means -– the world
of psychiatry would finally have access to
understanding the Arab mentality, with
its special needs and culture. Currently, in
both the Western and Arab world, many
patients from Arab descent are being
misdiagnosed and mistreated.
“Of course there are commonalities,”
said Khoury. “But there will be particular
things that apply only to a specific region.
Experts can now consider these things
instead of blindly throwing a diagnosis
that doesn’t fit their patients.”
As Khoury threw herself into the task, she
realized that there was a huge need for
a permanent center for research of Arab
mental health.
It was then that the idea came about:
how about establishing the very first Arab
center for mental health at AUB?
In June of 2011, the Faculty of Medicine
at the American University of Beirut
announced the establishment of the “Arab
Regional Center for Research and Train-
ing in Mental Health”.
The Center is planning on offering clini-
cal training programs, as well as research
capacity building, for Arab professionals
The Center conducts many project and
research based studies. Word got out
quickly. Requests began pouring in espe-
cially from psychiatrists and psychologists
from Iraq and Palestine who need a brief
training program (the usual program at
AUB is two years). NGOs are also in
touch with projects in mind.
So between seeing patients, teaching at
medical school, supervising interns, run-
ning the Center and the ICD10, running
various training programs, traveling for
various lectures – oh and being the mom of
three active IC students – life for Khoury is
“interesting,” she said laughing, “But I have
a lot of help at work and at home.”
As she said, when the will is there, the sky
is the limit.