In 1919, he was nominated physician in charge of the Mental Disease Hospital at Asfuriyeh. When the U.S. King-Crane Commission (created by President Woodrow Wilson to poll public opinion in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine) arrived in Beirut, he became its physician and interpreter. He was awarded a Rockefeller fellowship to go to Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and Columbia University from 1921 to 1922 where he specialized in surgery and urology.
He became the chief medical officer at the Asfuriyeh Mental Disease Hospital in 1919. Upon the U.S. King-Crane Commission's arrival in Beirut, he assumed a dual role as the commission's physician and translator. He received a Rockefeller grant to attend Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and Columbia University from 1921 to 1922, where he developed expertise in surgery and urology.