Meet Our Physiatrists
Physiatrists Offer Unique Expertise to Trinity Rehabilitation Services
As physiatrists, Anthony Kwan, M.D., and Robert Chesser, M.D., are members of a rather new and unique medical discipline. They specialize in non-surgical orthopedics and treatment of patients with neck and/or low back pain, shoulder problems, elbow and joint problems, and fibromyalgia. About 25 percent of their cases consist of stroke and spinal cord injury patients. In addition to setting up therapy programs, they conduct and interpret Electromylogram (EMG) tests to determine muscular dysfunction and offer injections for soft tissue ailments.
Anthony Kwan, M.D., Medical Director of Trinity’s Rehabilitation Services
As a certified athletic trainer who has a specialty in sports medicine, Dr. Kwan offers a distinctive specialty to the community. Since joining Trinity, Dr. Kwan investigated developing an area that is of particular interest to him – a specialized service to address the needs of amputees. Under Dr. Kwan’s supervision, the Amputee Clinic offers a more efficient coordination of care between caregivers and patients.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in physical education with an emphasis in sports medicine and exercise physiology from the University of California at Berkeley, he worked as an athletic trainer for the University of Illinois at the Chicago campus. During his four-year tenure, he served as trainer for the men’s basketball and hockey teams.
He left to receive his doctorate of medicine from Rush Medical College, Chicago. After graduation, he performed an internship at MacNeal Memorial Hospital in Berwyn, Illinois, and completed his residency in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Sinai Hospital, both in Baltimore, Maryland.
A member of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the Association of Academic Physiatrists, the American Medical Association, and Nu Sigma Psi Honorary Physical Education Society, Dr. Kwan is Medical Director of Trinity’s Rehabilitation Services. He also serves as Medical Director of Winning Wheels, a health-care facility for those with disabilities.
Robert Chesser, M.D.
Dr. Chesser, who has been on medical staff at Trinity since 1979, was one of the first physiatrists in the Quad Cities area who helped make Trinity’s rehabilitation services a leader in the community.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Loyola University in Maywood, Illinois, he received his doctorate of medicine from Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine. After graduation, Dr. Chesser continued his studies and received a master’s in rehabilitation from the University of Washington in Seattle.
He performed his medical internship at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chicago, IL, and then returned to the University of Washington to serve his residency in rehabilitation.
Dr. Chesser is board certified in physical medicine, rehabilitation, electrodiagnostic medicine (EMG/NCV) and pain management. A member of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the American Association of Electromyography and Electrodiagnosis, and the American Board of Pain Medicine, he has served as Medical Director of Trinity’s Rehabilitation Services and Director of Trinity’s Chronic Pain Management Program. A Fellow of the American Academy of Disability Evaluating Physicians and of the American College of Pain Medicine, Dr. Chesser currently serves as a Director of Trinity’s Muscular Dystrophy Clinic.