Dr. Kweku Laast joined the UHAS faculty in November, 2016 as a Lecturer at the Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, School of Allied Health Sciences. He is a Physician Specialist in Rehabilitation Medicine. Dr. Laast is also a Public Health specialist.
Education
Dr. Laast obtained his Bachelor of Science Degree in Microbiology from the University of Notre Dame (USA), Masters in Public Health from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (USA), his Medical Degree from the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University (USA) and his Residency and Fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Medical Center (USA).
Work Experience
Dr. Laast has a clinical practice as a Physician Specialist in Rehabilitation Medicine in Accra, and is currently the only Residency and Fellowship trained Rehabilitation Specialists in Ghana. Prior to joining the UHAS family, Dr. Laast had been in China for four years, and was an adjunct faculty member to the Rehabilitation Medicine Residency program at Huashan Hospital of Fudan University. He was the CEO of the Care One Medical Institute, teaching medical students and physicians in Shanghai, while providing medical consultation in rehabilitation medicine to the expatriate community, and providing consultation to the development of “Urgent Care” clinics and “Concierge Medical Services” in China. Prior to China, Dr. Laast was a private consultant in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Physician Executive providing consultation to the development of hospitals in developing countries (Ghana, South Sudan, Kenya) and served as Board Member and faculty for Care One Health Training Institute in North Carolina. He was the U.S. Principal Investigator on a $3 million demonstration grant he won to establish a model “Medical Home” and use of telemedicine as a tool to increase access to care and address the needs of sickle cell patients. Dr. Laast has served as a Public Health Physician for the State of North Carolina, where his primary focus was on improving health and medical serves to underserved populations. He served as CEO of the Johnson Medical Center, a primary care medical center in Virginia, and has served as the Executive Director of the North Carolina Governors Council on Physical Fitness and Health, the sanctioning body for sports festivals (The State Games).
Science/Research Output
Dr. Laast has research interests in community-based access to care programs. In March 2017, the scientific journal, Neurology, accepted the following for publication: “Clinical Reasoning: A 45 y.o. female presented with immobility and incontinence”. A previous publication is “Functional Outcomes and Community Integration in Traumatic Brain Injury”, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol 76, 1995.
