CHICAGO: The American College of Surgeons (ACS) will present this year’s Resident and Associate Society (RAS-ACS) Outstanding Mentor of the Year Award to Laura S. Johnson, MD, FACS, FCCP. Dr. Johnson is medical director of the Walter L. Ingram Burn Center at Grady Memorial Hospital and associate program director of the Emory department of surgery's general surgery residency in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Johnson will receive the award on Sunday evening, October 16, during the Convocation ceremony that precedes the opening of the ACS Clinical Congress 2022 in San Diego, California. The Clinical Congress is one of the largest educational meetings of surgeons in the world.
The RAS-ACS Outstanding Mentor of the Year Award was created to honor a benevolent ACS Fellow who has had a marked impact on the engagement of a Resident Member or Associate Fellow and has offered trainees or young surgeons the support and encouragement necessary for them to develop a solid foundation in the practice and profession of surgery.
Dr. Johnson’s mentorship
Dr. Johnson was nominated by her colleagues at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital and Washington Hospital Center. She was previously a member of the surgical team at the Burn Center at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.
“In everything Dr. Johnson does she curates that mantra of see one, do one, teach one, even in regards to her mentorship. She exemplifies traits and behaviors that we can model to help our peers also move forward,” said Yewande Alimi, MD, assistant professor of surgery, Georgetown University School of Medicine, in her nomination letter.
The surgical residents Dr. Johnson worked with at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital and Washington Hospital attested to her ability to connect with mentees and help them feel seen and capable. Through her work helping develop women surgeons and helping younger surgeons identify their true passions, Dr. Johnson’s mentees have praised her as “the epitome of mentorship.”
Dr. Johnson is also known for her advocacy of surgeon wellness. In her award nomination letter, one resident who worked with her noted Dr. Johnson’s efforts to help her through a period of burnout. “She helped me identify what I was going through, work through it, and now encourages me to help my junior residents do the same,” the resident said.
Awards and professional achievements
Dr. Johnson’s research focuses on addressing the expectations of patients, families, and care team, and how to enhance a medical team’s technical, communication, and leadership skills to provide patient-centered care. She has authored or co-authored more that 55 peer reviewed journal articles.
Dr. Johnson has received numerous awards throughout her career, including the John S. Dillon, MD, Award for Faculty Excellence in Medical Student Teaching in the Surgery Clerkship from Georgetown School of Medicine (2022), the Dr. Sally Abston Association of Women Surgeons Distinguished Member Award (2020), and the Georgetown Women in Medicine Eisenberg Career Development Award (2019), among many others.
Recipients of the Outstanding Mentor of the Year Award are Fellows of the College who have been nominated by ACS Resident Members or ACS Associate Fellows.
