The Amazon Medical Project

AMP supports the Yanamono Medical Clinic in the remote Amazon basin of northeastern Peru by providing primary care, involving locally trained people and encouraging preventative medicine. The clinic was founded in 1990 by Dr. Linnea J. Smith, M.D.

Project History
In 1990, Linnea J. Smith, M.D., gave up her Wisconsin medical practice to provide medical services to the indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon. Initially she operated out of a small thatched-roof room without electricity, running water, staff, funding, or lab services. After hearing a radio interview featuring Dr. Smith, volunteers from Duluth, Minnesota, Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Iquitos, Peru Rotary Clubs built a six-room clinic complete with well, solar panels, a hammock house for patients and their families, and adjacent rooms for clinic workers and visiting medical staff. Explorama Lodge, a nearby eco-tourism center, provides Dr. Smith with meals and river transportation.

In 1996, the Amazon Medical Project was established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation. Board members include: Ron Thorstad, Rick Koeck, JD (President), Sharol Parish (Vice President), Lee Swanson (Treasurer), Tom Sullivan, MD (Secretary), David Aslakson, Kim Stokes (Administrator of the Amazon Medical Project), and Linnea Smith, MD (Medical Director of the Yanamono Clinic).

Health Care Services
Until Dr. Smith's arrival, the local people had no access to health care. Today the clinic treats 2000-2500 patients a year, most arriving by dugout canoe or on foot. Services include family planning, prenatal care and birthing, dental care, treatment of snakebite, cholera, parasites, and malaria, care of trauma, and treatment of a multitude of infectious diseases.

Clinic Staff
Dr. Smith serves as the clinic's medical director. She is a 1984 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School and is Board-certified in Internal Medicine. She practiced in Prairie du Sac, WI from 1987-1990, when she moved to Peru. In 1997 Dr. Smith was named a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (ACP) in recognition of her exceptional dedication and service; in 1999 she received the Rosenthal Award from the ACP for the delivery of innovative medical services, and in 2005 was named Citizen Physician of the Year by the Wiscosin State Medical Society. The clinic staff consists of five local residents whom she has trained: a medical assistant, Juvencio; a clinic manager, Edemita; and three clinic workers. Interim staffing has included Peruvian physicians and visiting physicians and dentists from the U.S. and other countries.