Reviewed medical records of patients with Arabic surnames who utilized outpatient, inpatient, or emergency facilities of a university medical center and a public teaching hospital from 1975 to 1981 to describe help-seeking behavior of Arab-American patients, including why they sought care and whether they posed problems for providers, and to determine if the medical records identified culturally-related care needs. Data from 106 charts are described with reference to demographic data, illness behavior, and use of facilities. Findings reveal more about charting habits of health professionals than about unique characteristics of patients in this ethnic group. While diagnosis and treatment were thoroughly documented in every chart, psychosocial and cultural data were scant, incomplete, or erroneous.