Dr. Alain Shab, vascular surgeon in Beirut

About Dr. Shab’s training and practice

Dr. Alain Shab is a vascular surgeon and phlebologist, listed under Vascular Surgery at Clemenceau Medical Center, Beirut, a teaching hospital affiliated with Johns Hopkins Medicine International.

His medical degree is from the Lebanese University, completed in 2000, and in 2015 he took a Diploma in Phlebology at Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI) in Paris. That second qualification is worth explaining: phlebology is not a standard board specialty, so a named university diploma in venous medicine is about as formal as specialist training in this field gets.

He is a member of the Lebanese Society for Vascular Surgery, of the European Society for Vascular Surgery since 2000, and of the Société Française de Phlébologie since 2015, where he is listed in the society’s own member directory. He presented on venous disease at the Lebanese Congress for Vascular Surgery in 2017 and again in 2018, and in 2016 he spoke at the French Society of Phlebology on the treatment of hand veins, which is the part of this work fewest doctors anywhere do.

He performs roughly a thousand vein procedures a year.

He has treated venous disease, and nothing else, since 2010, at the Advanced Vein Clinic in Beirut Symposium, Sin El Fil. That is the part worth knowing before choosing anyone: not a general practice that also offers veins, but a practice that does veins and refers everything else out.

The range he works across is unusually wide for the region. Alongside varicose and spider veins, he treats hand veins, facial veins including periorbital and forehead veins, and couperose, which very few clinics in Lebanon offer at all. Assessment always begins with a duplex ultrasound scan, and the technique follows the scan rather than the other way round.

Not to be confused with

Beirut has several well-known doctors with similar names, and search engines regularly confuse them. Dr. Alain Shab is a vascular surgeon treating veins. He is a different person from Dr. Alain Saab, Dr. Alain Sabri and Dr. Alain Daher, who practise in other specialties. If you were referred to “Dr. Alain, the vein doctor” in Beirut, this is the practice, and the number is +961 81 663 350.

Hospital affiliation

Dr. Shab is listed under Vascular Surgery at Clemenceau Medical Center in Beirut, a teaching hospital affiliated with Johns Hopkins Medicine International. The vein practice runs from Beirut Symposium in Sin El Fil.

What patients consistently say

Across his Google reviews, the trait patients raise most often is not a technique. It is that the case gets explained before a decision is asked for.

He took the time to explain the procedure and possible complications. As a fellow Physician I highly recommend him! Jumana S Majdoub · Google review

He was knowledgeable and made sure I understood everything before I made my decision. Fatima Salam · Google review

The doctor is very honest hard to find these days. My results are better than I expected. He would be the only doctor I would refer for varicose veins problems. Hussen Berry · Google review

Patients have travelled from Dubai, Los Angeles and elsewhere in the United States on personal recommendation. The full set of reviews, including the less positive ones, is on the practice's Google listing.

Where to find the practice

Consultations run Monday to Thursday, 10:00 to 18:00, at Beirut Symposium, Sin El Fil. The quickest route to an appointment is the phone: +961 81 663 350. For patients outside Lebanon, WhatsApp is usually easier, and photographs can be sent ahead.