Dr. John O. Johnson
Dr. Johnson was born and raised in South Florida and graduated from North Shore High School as valedictorian of his senior class. Thereafter, he attended the University of Florida and was accepted into the highly selective Junior Honors Medical Program with early entry into the College of Medicine in his junior year of undergraduate study. He received an interdisciplinary Bachelor of Science degree in Cardiovascular Physiology and graduated with high honors. Dr. Johnson was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society in his junior year and received his MD with honors in 1985.
He subsequently moved to San Diego and completed his transitional internship at Mercy Hospital where he received superior evaluations in all categories and was awarded the prestigious Robert J. Prentiss Award for original research for “Pain control using combined epidural analgesia and anesthesia during renal artery embolization procedures.” He obtained his diagnostic radiology residency at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) where he also served as chief resident. Dr. Johnson received additional fellowship level training in body imaging and interventional radiology and completed his training in 1990. Immediately thereafter, he joined RMG and has been an integral part of the medical group ever since. He has held several leadership positions throughout his tenure including prior Chief or Radiology at Scripps Mercy Hospital and current Chief of CT imaging at Imaging Healthcare Specialists and Scripps Mercy Hospital.
Dr. Johnson’s current areas of expertise include body imaging, cardiovascular imaging, mammography and breast interventions, nuclear medicine and PET/CT. He has also been an early adopter of advanced gastrointestinal imaging including virtual colonoscopy and CT and MR enterography.
Dr. Johnson has a keen interest in appropriate imaging utilization, quality improvement and patient safety. He was co-author and editor of Imaging Guidelines for the international utilization management firm Milliman and Robertson and is a primary architect for the Low Radiation Dose Initiative at Imaging Healthcare Specialists. In this later capacity, he has re-engineered and implemented low dose CT protocols to reduce potential health hazards to patients. Dr. Johnson is a current member of the Scripps Mercy Hospital Credentials Committee, Continuing Medical Education Committee and CT Technical Committee.
His outside interests include surfing, cycling, skiing and spending time with his family.
