Impact of a Multifaceted Intervention Among Primary Care Physicians on Sickness Certification.

Introduction: Sickness absence remains a major challenge globally. Primary care physicians often find it challenging to deny patients' requests for sick leaves, making the gatekeeping role uneasy among doctors.

Methods: Twenty-one PCPs participated in this non-randomized intervention study.

Grading reflective essays: the reliability of a newly developed tool- GRE-9.

Background: The main objective of this study is the development of a short reliable easy-to-use assessment tool in the aim of providing feedback to the reflective writings of medical students and residents.

Methods: This study took place in a major tertiary academic medical center in Beirut, Lebanon. Seventy-seven reflective essays written by 18 residents in the department of Family Medicine at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) were graded by 3 raters using the newly developed scale to assess the scale reliability.

Psychological Distress among Syrian Refugee Women and a Control Group in an Urban Settlement in Beirut- a Pilot Study.

The Syrian conflict has created approximately five million refugees. Of these, more than one million have settled in Lebanon. This project aimed to determine the prevalence of psychological distress (PD) amongst Syrian refugee mothers compared to a control group of local mothers living in the same informal urban settlement in Beirut.

Oesophageal ulcer due to a herbal remedy.

Herbal-induced oesophageal lesions are rare. We report the case of an 85-year-old male who presented with cough and odynophagia. An upper endoscopy showed white deposit under the proximal oesophageal sphincter.

Resistance exercise-induced rhabdomyolysis: Need for immediate intervention and proper counselling.

Background: Rhabdomyolysis results from damage to skeletal muscle. Improper resistance training may result in rhabdomyolysis, which can cause acute kidney injury, serious metabolic abnormalities, compartmental syndrome and even death. Proper counselling for athletes may prevent this condition.

Communication skills in a Lebanese medical school: from movie theaters to medical classrooms.

Background: Communication skills are widely taught in US medical schools, but in Lebanon, such teaching is in its infancy.

Methods: At the American University of Beirut, we piloted a communication skills teaching package using video scenarios in Arabic. A total of 150 second-year medical students addressed eight communication issues in a 3-hour multi-method workshop that included watching and discussing video clips and role-playing.

Predictors of psychological distress in Lebanese hostages of war.

A cross-sectional study addressed the experience of Lebanese hostages of war in Lebanon. It specifically assessed the prevalence of general distress and its relationship to captivity-related factors and selected psychosocial variables. Trained field researchers using standard measurements interviewed 118 Lebanese hostages released from Khiam prison, an Israeli detention center in Lebanon.