Gordon Guyatt ‘77

Gordon Guyatt, MD, MSc, FRCPC, is a general internist and a Distinguished Professor of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics at McMaster University. He is known for his work on evidence–based medicine, a term that first appeared in a paper he published in 1991. He has published over 800 peer–reviewed articles and his work has been cited more than 50,000 times.

He has also written extensively on health care policy in the popular press. His contributions to quality of life research, randomized trials and meta–analysis have been considered ground–breaking. In 2007, the BMJ launched an international vote to determine the most important contributions to healthcare. Evidence–based medicine came 7th in the line–up, beating the computer. Dr. Guyatt is the co–editor of the Users’ Guides to the Medical Literature, a comprehensive set of journal articles and a textbook for clinicians that wish to incorporate Evidence–based medicine into their practices. In 1979, Dr. Guyatt co–founded the Medical Reform Group, a Canadian organization of physicians, medical students and others in support of universal public health care. He continues to serve as a member of the steering committee and leading spokesperson for this group. Most recently, Dr. Guyatt has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada for his “contributions to the advancement of evidence–based medicine and its teaching.”