William Forrest Johnston, MD, FACS, FASCRS.

Abstract

William (Forrest) Johnston, MD, is a Colon and Rectal Surgeon and Assistant Program Director for the Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship at the Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans, LA. He was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and moved to Galveston, Texas, at a young age. Living on a small island on the Gulf Coast, he enjoyed surfing and working for the Beach Patrol. He then went to Wake Forest University in North Carolina for under graduation, where he majored in Chemistry and Religion. Next, he went back to Texas to join Medical School at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston before moving to University of Virginia for his General Surgery residency. Initially he wanted to be a vascular surgeon and performed extensive research in that field. When he finished with the laboratory work, he changed his path to pursue colorectal surgery. He went on to complete Colorectal Surgery fellowship at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts. Following his fellowship, he began his first faculty position at the Ochsner Clinic, where he has served since 2017.