Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine names Isaiah Johnson chair of obstetrics and gynecology
The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine has promoted Isaiah M. Johnson to chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the school and at Carilion Clinic. Johnson has served as interim chair since 2021.
“Dr. Johnson was a very effective leader as interim chair, and I am delighted that he will have the opportunity to build on that momentum during a period of increasing opportunity,” said Lee Learman, dean of the medical school. “The department has created a learning environment that recruits outstanding faculty educators and residents, which in turn has fueled an increase in OB-GYN career interest by our medical students. Initiatives supporting diversity, equity and inclusion; physician well-being; and research mentoring have already shown successful outcomes and will continue to develop under Dr. Johnson’s leadership.”
Since his arrival in 2009, Johnson has garnered the respect of his colleagues, students, and residents for his clinical acumen and collaborative excellence. He is a practicing OB-GYN specialist engaged in the full scope of care, with a special interest in helping patients with high-risk pregnancies. Over the course of his career, Johnson has steadily taken on more administrative roles in the department to support the OB-GYN clerkship, residency program, and quality and safety programs. He is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and was selected in 2019 to be a specialty certification examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
“I look forward to supporting our OB-GYN faculty, residents, students, and staff to provide outstanding care for our patients, education for our learners, and patient-centered research to create an environment in which we and our patients thrive,” Johnson said.
Johnson is a graduate of the University of Florida College of Medicine, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honors Society in 2002 and earned his M.D. with honors in 2003. He completed the OB-GYN residency program at University of Florida in 2007 and has spent considerable time training the next generation of physicians, including OB-GYN and family medicine residents.
Johnson has served as a specialty or research mentor for many advisees and has received numerous awards for his teaching locally and nationally, including the prestigious national faculty award for excellence from the Council on Residency Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2021. He has served as a reviewer for OB-GYN specialty journals and is currently a participating faculty member in a multi-center, prospective randomized trial in support of perinatal mental health in obstetric settings.
