Eric P Gall, MD

The late Eric P. Gall, MD, MACP, MACR, was a leader in rheumatology, a gifted teacher and a caring physician who was loved by his patients. He was beloved by the many medical students, residents, fellows and junior faculty who he mentored, and is remembered for both his warm friendship and his contributions to his field. He is missed and his legacy continues to grow in the center he helped build.

Dr. Gall was the co-founder of the University of Arizona Arthritis Center at the University of Arizona College of Medicine Tucson. Upon his retirement in December 2016, he was named as Professor Emeritus in the University of Arizona College of Medicine Tucson. A UArizona College of Medicine faculty member from 1973-1994, Dr. Gall also served as chief of the Section of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology. Dr. Gall received an AB (artium baccalaureus) degree with honors in zoology in 1962 and his medical degree in 1966 from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed an internship at the University of Cincinnati in 1967 and residencies in medicine at the University of Cincinnati in 1968 and at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971. He completed a fellowship in rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania in 1973. He served as a major and a preventive medicine officer in the U.S. Army, including a year with the 4th Infantry Division in the Republic of Vietnam from 1968-70, and was awarded the Bronze Star.

In 2010, after returning from the Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, where he was chair of the Department of Medicine from 1994-2009, he returned to the University of Arizona Arthritis Center to work with the fellowship program before accepting the position of interim director. In 1978, the UArizona College of Medicine was among the first 11 institutions in the nation to receive a National Institutes of Health Multipurpose Arthritis Center (MAC) grant, authorized by Congress under the National Arthritis Act, laying the foundation for the University of Arizona Arthritis Center. In 1985, the Arizona Board of Regents approved the concept for the Arthritis Center as a Center of Excellence at the UArizona College of Medicine; Dr. Gall and orthopaedic surgeon Robert Volz, MD, were named founding directors.

Dr. Gall also served as president of the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals, a division of the American College of Rheumatology, and was a master and founding member of the American College of Rheumatology, where he was a member of the board of directors. He was a master and laureate of the American College of Physicians and secretary of the Arizona chapter. He served on the board of trustees of Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honor society.

A national expert on innovative teaching methods, Dr. Gall was active on many committees addressing teaching methods and curricula at the medical school level and in the specialty of rheumatology. He maintained a strong interest in developing educational programs for training primary care physicians, medical students and residents. Dr. Gall was widely published on rheumatology, including articles in Arthritis and Rheumatism, the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Journal of Rheumatology, and American Family Physician.

In recognition of his innovations in teaching, the Eric P. Gall, MD, Endowed Lectureship was established in 2015. Dr. Gall was the founder of the University of Arizona's Rheumatology Training Program and served on the UArizona Curriculum Committee in a variety of roles. He was also chairman of the UArizona Comprehensive Curriculum Analysis and Planning Project, whose work resulted in the rollout of a new medical school curriculum in the mid-1990s. He created an annual program titled Introduction to Clinical Medicine Physical Exam Experience in Rheumatic Disease, which allows medical students, residents and fellows to interact with current patients diagnosed with applicable diseases. During his career, Dr. Gall mentored more than 75 residents and fellows, and served on a number of MS and PhD thesis defense committees, all with successful outcomes.