HONORARY DEGREE

For more than 27 years, Dr. Jennifer Gunter has made outstanding contributions to medicine, accessibility, and our understanding of reproductive health, sexual health, and menopause.

Once referred to as “the world’s most famous gynecologist,” the physician, best-selling author and women’s health expert has long been an unapologetic advocate for patient empowerment and accessible information. Her approach as an OB/GYN and a pain medicine physician is centered on evidence-based medicine integrated with a focus on empathy and the patient’s experience.

After graduating from the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine, Dr. Gunter completed her OB/GYN training at the University of Western Ontario and a fellowship on infectious diseases at the University of Kansas.

The traumatic loss of one of her sons in a premature triplet pregnancy motivated her to write The Preemie Primer: A Complete Guide for Parents of Premature Babies — from Birth through the Toddler Years and Beyond. The book addresses the lack of publicly available, medically sound information about the specific needs of premature babies.

Since then, Dr. Gunter has authored two more books on female health, including the #1 national bestseller The Vagina Bible, which she wrote as a reaction to the large amounts of false and dangerous information about female health on the internet. She has written for The New York Times, Glamour, The New Republic, and many other publications, and has a blog called The Vajenda. Her prominent social media presence has led to the nickname “Twitter’s Resident OB/GYN” and she often references her Winnipeg roots and credits her prairie upbringing for her confidence and direct approach.

Since 2006, Dr. Gunter has been managing a health clinic for women in the Chronic Pelvic Pain & Vulvo-Vaginal Disorders division at The Permanente Medical Group of Kaiser Permanente in Northern California.

She is the host of a 10-part docuseries called Jensplaining on CBC Gem and a TED Audio Collective podcast. She is a passionate champion for women’s health and has used her voice to debunk medical myths, advocate for a “better medical internet” and call out exploitative pseudoscience.

Her goal is to have more medical experts involved in disseminating medical information in ways that are accessible to the public and to correct the misinformation and disinformation available online, especially as it relates to women’s physical, reproductive and sexual health.

The University of Manitoba is proud to award a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, to Dr. Jennifer Gunter in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of gynecology and her lifelong advocacy for accessibility and women’s health.