In Memoriam: Dr. Erwin Thal: Trauma expert, outstanding surgical educator
From staff reports
UT Southwestern Medical Center Professor of Surgery Dr. Erwin Thal, who contributed more than four decades of trauma expertise at the operating table and was known both nationally and regionally for his contributions to education, died Dec. 13 at William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital. He was 78.
Dr. Thal spent his entire career at UT Southwestern and at Parkland Memorial Hospital. In addition to his educational and surgical prowess, Dr. Thal directed UT Southwestern’s Willed Body Program. The program, the largest in Texas, provides for donating bodies for medical education, research, and helping specialists develop new techniques.
“He not only had an incredible influence on the medical students and residents training over the past 40 years, he influenced trauma care throughout the nation,” said Dr. Robert Rege, Professor and former Chairman of Surgery. “As a seasoned senior faculty member, Dr. Thal brought incredible experience and judgment to bear on the education of young physicians even working and teaching the day he became ill. His knowledge, judgment, and sound medical decision-making will be missed, but it is his mentorship, his sage advice, his humanity, and his friendship that is irreplaceable.”
Dr. William W. Turner, Professor of Surgery, said, “His optimism enlivened our lives. His dedication to his profession, to our medical center, and to his family was inspirational.”
Dr. Thal was born in Columbus, Ohio, on Aug. 31, 1936, and was an enthusiastic graduate of The Ohio State University where he was the manager of the baseball, basketball, and two national championship football teams. He served in Air Force as a flight medical officer, and was awarded the United States Air Force Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service.
Dr. Thal, who is listed among the Giants of Parkland Surgery honorary wall, received his medical degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine in 1962, followed by a rotating internship at Parkland Memorial Hospital in 1963. He completed his general surgery residency at Parkland in 1969 and joined the UT Southwestern faculty as an Instructor in July 1969. He became a Professor in September 1982.
During his four decades of service, Dr. Thal led the surgical emergency room from July 1970 through June 1994, and was appointed Medical Director of the Day Surgery Unit at Parkland in January 1995. He also taught the surgical postgraduate course for 20 years (from 1981 to 2001), and was coordinator of surgical continuing medical education from 1993 to 2002.
Dr. Thal received several Excellence in Teaching Awards at UT Southwestern. In addition, he contributed to national and regional educational efforts, including as Chairman of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, Vice President of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma and the Western Surgical Association, and Governor-at-Large for the North Texas Chapter of the American College of Surgeons.
He received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Trauma Society in 1992, the Laycock-Snyder Faculty Teaching Award in 1996, and the Outstanding Service Award from the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma in 2002.
Memorials to UT Southwestern’s Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma, can be made through the Office of Development, UT Southwestern, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390.
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Dr. Turner holds the Ernest Poulos, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Surgery, and the Carla and Paul Bass Professorship in Medical Education Honoring Charles C. Sprague, M.D.
