Gail Fisher
Clinical Professor Emerita, Occupational Therapy
Focus Areas
Office Phone
Office
1919 W. Taylor St., 311 AHSB
Mail Code
811
Office Hours
By appointment
Related Sites
About
Dr. Fisher was a clinical faculty member at UIC for 34 years. She developed resources, cases, presentations, and guidelines to help students and therapists use occupational therapy theory to guide their practice. She is an expert in the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO), and was involved in the creation and refinement of two assessments based on the MOHO, the Worker Role Interview and the Residential Environment Impact Scale, and has authored multiple MOHO book chapters. Dr. Fisher also studied and taught about health care and occupational therapy delivery systems, and the impact of policy and payment on practice. She has published about how the health care system and reimbursement practices affect occupational therapy acute care practice. Dr. Fisher also studies COVID-19 trends, and has published about the role of occupational therapy with COVID-19 in acute care, and during early quarantine restrictions. She led the department’s admissions committee for 33 years, and developed the department’s holistic admission process, which has received national recognition.
Selected Publications
“Lessons Learned From the COVID-19 Pandemic: Occupational Therapy on the Front Line ”,
The Environment and Human Occupation in R. Taylor (Ed.) Kielhofner's Model of Human Occupation: Theory and application (5th Ed.), Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Publication Aggregators
Service to the Community
Dr. Fisher's community partners included El Valor Corp., a community-based agency in Pilsen serving adults with intellectual disabilities, and St. Leonard's Ministries, which provides a high school completion program for formerly incarcerated adults.
Leadership in the Profession
American Occupational Therapy Political Action Committee, Chair, 2013-2015; Board of Directors 2009-2013
Illinois Occupational Therapy Political Action Committee, Interim Chair 2017-2019 and Treasurer 1985-2011
Notable Honors
2020 - Honorary Lifetime Member Award, Illinois Occupational Therapy Association
2019 - UIC Award for Excellence in Teaching, University of Illinois at Chicago, Teaching Excellence Committee
2017 - Excalibur Award for Teaching Excellence in Occupational Therapy, UIC College of Applied Health Sciences, selected by graduating MS Occupational Therapy students
2012 - Fellow, American Occupational Therapy Association
Education
PhD in Public Health Sciences, Health Policy and Administration, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2017
MPA, Master of Public Administration, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, 1988
BS, Occupational Therapy, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1980