Clarence Dale Guenter

Professor Emeritus, Family Medicine

0000-0002-9915-1911

Dale Guenter completed medical school at University of Calgary, internship at Dalhousie, and Master of Public Health at Harvard. He joined the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster in 1999, at North Hamilton Community Health Centre, following several years as a family physician in the Canadian Arctic and in Calgary’s inner city. He developed a lasting collaboration with Ateneo de Zamboanga University in Philippines starting 1997, assisting with problem-based learning curriculum and a new Master of Public Health program. Dr. Guenter co-founded the Shelter Health Network in Hamilton as one part of a health care solution for people whose lives do not fit the mould of traditional medical models, and was the founding primary care lead for the Hamilton Health Links initiative. He joined McMaster Family Practice in 2006, and served as medical co-director from 2008-2016. He is a founding faculty member for the Master of Public Health program at McMaster, which started in 2014.

Dr. Guenter’s primary interest is in exploring and delivering novel approaches to health care that that will result in a more effective experience of healing. His research, teaching and clinical work are focused on people affected by HIV, mental health and addiction, chronic pain, incarceration, and end of life concerns. His work takes place through community partnerships, collaborations between public health and primary care, improved communication skills, and reflection-in-practice. He is the Faculty Experience Director for DFM, Director of Postgraduate Research and Scholarship, and physician in jails and in Shelter Health Network.