It might seem reprehensible to talk about a successful Lebanese figure such as Philip Salem, at a time when the news coming from Lebanon, its parties, leaders and politicians, is reeking of decay and failure. What is this paradox? No Lebanese can get a chance at success unless he leaves this sectarian furnace and this sea of corruption called Lebanon? It is a disease eating away at the heart of the country, tearing it apart, killing every creative spirit in it and displacing its competent children, thus leaving in its cities and villages no one but those who are unable to leave on the first plane out, the weary, those racing to eat whatever is left of it, or were promised to when the anticipated resources burst from the depth of the sea. Like many Lebanese who left their country due to civil war, Philip Salem was able to work and succeed, and even to become one of the pioneers in his field, i.e. oncology, and acquire a prominent status in the area of scientific research to find the latest ways to detect the disease early on and develop the methods of treatment. Philip Salem could have considered any country in which he worked and treated his patients as his own, since states and medical institutions are racing to benefit from his experience. In addition, he had no problem getting whichever nationality, and could have lived anywhere he wanted while enjoying a good financial situation. Despite this, wherever he went, Philip Salem remained the son of the Koura region and specifically the town of Bterram, proud to put on one side of the desk at his clinic in the oncology center in Houston a bottle containing some of Koura's famous olive oil, on the other side a small box in which he collected some of his village's soil, and on the wall above it paintings of Bterram offered to him by the owner of An-Nahar newspaper, the great late journalist Ghassan Tueni, whose friendship with Philip Salem extended for over thirty years. He was once asked what it meant for him to be Lebanese, to which he said: “Had I not been Lebanese, I would not know who I would be. I love Lebanon and its people and I am proud to be Lebanese. And although I live in the United States and have toured the world, Lebanon is the only country I can call my own. Naturally, as a doctor, I feel I am a global citizen, that the entire world is my country and humanity is my family. But my cultural and political identity is Lebanese." Philip Salem left Lebanon in 1987 in difficult circumstances, after he suffered during the first years of the war along with his family – which includes his wife and three children – and had to sleep in shelters as was the case of many families. Moreover, his house was bombed and he escaped abduction in an incident he will never forget, at the hands of a former cancer patient whom he healed and who was assigned to carry out the kidnapping by one of the militias at the time. The young bearded man knocked on his apartment door but Philip did not recognize him at first. The man introduced himself and informed his doctor not to cross the road separating “the two Beiruts" to head to the American University Hospital where he worked, due to the existence of a plan to kidnap him and exchange him with kidnapped people from the other side. This represented the alarm bell that pushed Philip and his family to pack their bags and head to Houston, on a trip which he still recalls and relates how difficult it was for him. He says: “I had conducted that trip from Beirut to Houston more than once before, but this time, it was different. I was leaving my country, my family and friends whom I might never see again. When I arrived to Houston, I felt that my body was split in two: one part in Houston and the other in Lebanon." It is hard to differentiate between Philip Salem, the ultimate Lebanese citizen, and Philip Salem, the ultimate surgeon. In my opinion, each completes the other, and the human being in him determines the national values he adopts in his relationship with his country, and the medical values he adopts in his relationship with his profession. And just like he idealizes Lebanon and quotes his favorite author Gibran Khalil Gibran in saying “You have your Lebanon and I have mine," he also summarizes his perception of the treatment of cancer with the slogan “Love and Hope" which he raised over the entrance of the medical center carrying his name in Houston. He describes his relationship with his patients as being “sacred," saying: “Only God gives life and I am only here to help cure the ill. Overcoming death and saving a patient's life are acts of God. This is why the relationship between a doctor and his patient is not an ordinary one. It is one between a person threatened with death and another trying hard to save his life. The only difference between a great doctor and an ordinary doctor is that the latter looks at his own interest before his patient's. To be a successful doctor, you must put your patient's interest ahead of years and your search for fame or wealth."
