Remembering Dr. Earl Dunn
Often referred to as “the Father of Telemedicine”, Dr. Earl Dunn passed away September 3. Dr. Dunn was renowned as advancing academic family medicine both in Canada and internationally. Dr. Dunn was instrumental in bringing telemedicine to Canada, starting IV therapies in the hospital and in the home and developing primary care research together with his early family medicine research colleagues.
Dr. Dunn received his MD from McGill University in 1960. After completing a general practice residency in the United States and practicing in rural Quebec as a general practitioner and mine physician, he received an academic appointment at the University of Toronto’s newly established Department of Family and Community Medicine (then the Family Practice Department) in the late 1960’s. He was located at Sunnybrook Hospital and became very involved in the education of medical learners.
Because of the scarcity of health care provision by telephone, Dr. Dunn became very quickly aware of the need for quality research to help advance the field of telemedicine and become a devotee and pioneer of the field. He was involved in diverse studies, garnered over $3 million in research grants and published 96 academic papers. Examples of his research interests included practice audits, health care in Northern Ontario, snoring, hypertension, quality of life issues, Alzheimer's disease and chiropractic usage.
He developed the Foundations of Primary Care Research Conferences and published six books on research methods for primary care. These books brought the idea of primary care research into the open and legitimized it as a worthy academic pursuit.
He was a superb leader and mentored colleagues all over the world. He was known as a good collaborator on research teams and was widely sought after by both Canadian and international researchers.
Dr. Dunn is survived by his wife, his three children Peter, David and Désirée and their families.
A research Scholarship Fund will be established in Dr. Dunn’s name at Sunnybrook Hospital. More information will be sent out about this Fund in time.
Our thoughts are with Dr. Dunn’s family at this time.
Sincerely,
Dr. Lynn Wilson,
Chair, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto
