Beirut, March 14th, 2022: For the first time in Lebanon and the region, the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) hosted the first medical student-based neurosurgical meeting in the Arab region. Held between March 5 and 6 at the Issam Fares Lecture Hall, the two-day conference was designed to highlight new approaches in neurosurgery and develop new techniques through hands-on workshops provided by national and international medical companies.
The conference was established by Walter E. Dandy Neurosurgical Society in collaboration with Abdulrauf University of Neurosurgery and endorsed by Prof. Saleem Abdulrauf (global president of the Dandy club, neurosurgeon), Dr. Houssein Ali Darwish (neurosurgeon, AUBMC and chair of the meeting), and Dr. Raymond Sawaya (Raja N. Khuri Dean of AUB Faculty of Medicine). Organized by medical students Jana Baajour from the American University of Beirut Medical Center and Solay Farhat and Zeinab Hammoud from the Lebanese University. The conference was attended by more than 150 attendees: local and visiting residents, professors, surgeons, medical students, physicians specifically neurologists and neurosurgeons, and fellows from the USA and the Arab region.
On this occasion, Dr. Houssein Darwish said: “The best way to teach is to share expertise from all over the world. It is only through learning and passing experience that we can advance.”
While targeting medical students in different countries around the world, particularly in the Arab region, the conference ensured the promotion of all aspects of neurosurgery and its future amongst participants and attendees. With keynote lectures and panel discussions given by well-known global neurosurgeons, this conference was an opportunity for participants to connect, while simultaneously attaining elite lectures through educative resources such as Lecturio and Amboss. In addition to hands-on practices out of Proximie, allowing a live operation room experience and surgical training presenting their 3D anatomic capability.
The conference distinguished AUBMC as a leading medical center and contributed to placing it further on the local and regional map in applying state-of-the-art medical knowledge and technology in Lebanon and the region. It also helped expand the scope of training and teaching opportunities to a bigger number of medical students.
For long, AUBMC has been a leader in the MENA region for delivering excellent patient care, encouraging discovery and research, and providing insightful medical training for professionals. Despite all the challenges, AUBMC continues to thrive to improve healthcare services and delivery for the community with respect and dignity to all.
About AUBMC
Since 1902, AUBMC has been providing the highest standards of care to patients across Lebanon and the region. It is also the teaching hospital for the Faculty of Medicine at AUB (established in 1867), which has trained generations of medical students and physicians, and whose graduates can be found at leading institutions around the world. AUBMC is the only medical institution in the Middle East to have earned the five international accreditations of JCI, Magnet, CAP, ACGME-I and JACIE attesting to its superior standards in patient-centered care, nursing, pathology/laboratory services and graduate medical education.
The Faculty of Medicine has graduated over 4,000 medical students and physicians; the Rafic Hariri School of Nursing provides excellent education for the nursing staff, and the Medical Center meets the healthcare needs of over 360,000 patient visits annually.