Wilderness Medical Associates International(WMAI) is dedicated to the development of remote and practical medicine around the globe. We are medical and rescue professionals, researchers, experienced educators, and advocates for healthcare in wilderness contexts. Our curriculum, overseen and continually revised by a committee of medical practitioners and academics, has been taught on all seven continents.

WMAI annually trains over 10,000 medically and non-medically trained learners around the world. Our courses are hosted by colleges and universities, medical schools, camps, outdoor adventure companies, rural ambulance services, private industry, and government entities. WMAI will train responders and practitioners needed for medical care in low resource settings, anywhere in the world.

WMAI’s current owner and medical director is David Johnson, MD, FACEP. In addition to his writing, teaching, and business responsibilities with Wilderness Medical Associates, David (DJ) also works as an Emergency Physician at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine. His outdoor pursuits have included wilderness canoeing in Canada, climbing and hiking in North and South America, coastal kayaking in Georgia and Maine, and sailing around the Atlantic Ocean. DJ is passionate about curriculum development and teaching. His biggest challenge is to try and make apparently complicated concepts accessible and usable for people regardless of where they have to deliver care. DJ states that it is “…often more important to have clarity about the urgency and severity of a problem than it is to have a precise diagnosis. We need to understand what a patient does or does not have and whether or not it is a big deal.” His reward is the light bulb going on in students’ minds; for instance, when a student says: “I’ve got it; I didn’t realize it would be so simple!”