Roderick Strang, the second son of Captain Frank Strang and Mrs. Clare Strang (nee Webb) was born in Melbourne. His father, son of a Presbyterian minister, ran away to sea from Glasgow and arrived in Melbourne in 1897. A friend of the family in Melbourne, Captain McPherson, promptly sent him back to Scotland to finish his education.

Captain Strang returned to Australia in 1903 armed with his Master's Certificate for Sail and Steam. After World War I he became involved in the stevedoring industry and set up a company, Whitlam Strang, which later became F G Strang Pty Ltd. (The `Whitlam' of this company was Gough Whitlam's uncle.) Captain Strang disliked the Melbourne winter and used to stay in Sydney, with his brother-in-law, Arthur Webb, from April to August each year. Rod and his elder brother, Donald, were left to their own devices in boarding school. Rod was a very lonely child, but most devoted to his mother.

Rod attended the Huntingtower School in Huntingtower Road, Malvern, from 1927 to 1931, and Melbourne Grammar School from 1932 to 1933. At school, he was a member of the athletics team, and he gained a blue in rugby and a half-blue in skiing. On leaving school, Rod enrolled in the medical course at the University of Melbourne and graduated in 1939. Whilst at the university, he again excelled in rugby, athletics and skiing and earned University blues in all three sports. In 1939 he was Victorian Ski Champion and was destined for an Olympic career had not World War II intervened.

On graduating in medicine, Rod became a Resident Medical Officer at Prince Henry's Hospital in St. Kilda Road, Melbourne. In 1941 he joined the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps. He rose to the rank of Major and served in the 2/1 Survey Regiment, the Ski Unit in the 2/16 Battalion, and the 2/11 Australian General Hospital. He saw action in the Middle East and in Papua New Guinea, including on the Kokoda Trail and at Gona, where he was one of only 56 who survived the battle for this town. He sustained a severe knee injury whilst serving in Lebanon, and suffered the effects of this injury for the rest of his life. This did not prevent him, however, from excelling at golf. He was the Club Handicap Champion at the Peninsula Golf Club in 1964.

At the end of World War II Rod did postgraduate study in England at Leeds and Manchester. He returned to Australia, and completed the examination for Membership of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 1947. He then went back to England where he took up the study of rheumatic diseases under the tutelage of Professor J H Kellgren at the Manchester Royal Infirmary. It is noteworthy that Rod's mother and his aunt, Millie Webb, both suffered from arthritis. Rod's deep concern about both of them developed into a life long ambition, and in a sense an absolute mission, to heal the disease.

Whilst studying in Manchester, Rod met Margaret Britcliffe, a physiotherapist in the unit. They married before his return to Australia. Back in Melbourne, Rod set up in consultant practice as a rheumatologist. He was appointed Honorary Physician at Prince Henry's Hospital where he stayed until 1962, in which year he was appointed Honorary Rheumatologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, a position he held until 1973. He was admitted to Fellowship of the College in 1956. He remained in private practice until a year or two before his death.

In the fifties and the sixties, rheumatology was not widely accepted as a branch of internal medicine. The same applied in many other countries at that time, including Great Britain, Canada, and New Zealand. Rod fought very hard to ensure that appropriate recognition was obtained for this specialty. He encouraged young postgraduates to embrace the specialty, and arranged introductions to leading rheumatologists and high quality units abroad in order to expedite their training.

In 1956, Rod Strang was one of the small group who founded the Australian Rheumatism Association which later became the Australian Rheumatology Association. He was on the Council of the Association for many years. He was President in 1962, and Treasurer in the earliest days. He was prominent in the Victorian Branch of the Association, holding all the executive positions at different times. He was also active in the Arthritis Foundation, both in the national body based in Sydney, and later in the Rheumatism and Arthritis Association of Victoria which ultimately became part of the Arthritis Foundation.

Over very many years, Rod was involved in the family stevedoring and transport businesses. He was a Director of F G Strang Pty Ltd from 1927 to 1987, and from 1948 he was also a Director of Tradex Transport Pty Ltd, a company whose first contract was to be 'house carrier' for Trans Australia Airlines, now Qantas.

Rod Strang was a quiet man with a quirky sense of humour, who talked little about himself or his achievements, and particularly about his war service. He was highly regarded as a clinician, with a wide knowledge of internal medicine. He always managed his patients with care and gentleness. He strived continuously to improve his knowledge, and he always kept up with new developments as they occurred. Rod Strang can truly be said to be one of a small group of physicians responsible for the development, recognition and acceptance in Australia of rheumatology as a worthy branch of internal medicine.