The Adoption Medicine Clinic (AMC) at the University of Minnesota was the first program of its kind and continues to be a global innovator in research, education, advocacy and comprehensive care for children who come from early adversity. Since its founding in 1986, the AMC has helped to define the field of early childhood trauma, providing care for hundreds of thousands of adopted and foster care children worldwide. Our healthcare team consists of pediatricians, psychologists and occupational therapists. Through this interdisciplinary team approach, we are able to provide advanced, comprehensive patient care to families with children who are adopted domestically, internationally or in foster care.

Our healthcare team consists of pediatricians, psychologists and occupational therapists. We work together to provide Comprehensive Child Wellness Assessments (CCWA) to help care for children who are adopted domestically, internationally or in foster care. All child that that have been adopted or placed in foster care can benefit from seeing an adoption specialist, as those that experience stress in utero or in their early life can experience seemingly small issues with sleep, learning, anxiety, or other common medical or developmental issues. Waiting until puberty or later to address the issues can complicate underlying conditions so it is better to seek help sooner rather than later.

The Adoption Medicine Clinic (AMC) has been an invaluable resource for us especially as we were reviewing our boys’ medical records. They were very patient and knowledgeable and truly cared about our family and our boys. I remember the first time that Dr. Eckerle saw our oldest son in clinic. She spoke Korean to him, and his entire face and countenance changed. There are many small acts like that every day at the AMC. Dr. Johnson and Dr. Eckerle and the entire staff have impacted our family in ways I can’t describe. They are an amazing mix of medical knowledge, adoption experience, and loving care, and their impact will be felt for many generations. 

- Liz, Adoptive parent