Introducing the new program director of the General Surgery Residency Program

Mel Johnson, MD, FACS, joined Gundersen Health System in March 2020 and became the associate program director of the General Surgery Residency Program in July 2020. In addition to clinical interests in general, breast, acute care and endocrine surgery, she is passionate about surgical education. 

As she begins her new role, we invited Dr. Johnson to share a bit about herself, her experiences and her goals. 

How did you become interested in medicine? 
I began working as a registered nurse (RN) at the University of Minnesota hospital in 1992 on a Medical-Surgical unit, primarily with patients with cancer and end-stage AIDS. Through that early exposure to cancer patients, I became a chemotherapy and infusion nurse. 

I loved taking care of patients but desired more medical knowledge and greater autonomy in directing the care of patients. I started medical school at the University of South Dakota (USD) Sanford School of Medicine in 1997 and continued to work part-time as an RN throughout medical school. In 2001, I pursued general surgery residency training at Rush University Medical Center and Cook County Hospital in Chicago. 

Upon graduation in 2006, I worked clinically as a general surgeon with an emphasis on endocrine surgery, breast surgery and surgical oncology at Sanford USD Medical Center and the Sioux Falls Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center (VAMC). 

How were you first introduced to Gundersen? 
I have always been passionate about medical education, and in 2011, I was invited by my surgery mentor, Gary Timmerman, MD, to help develop a new general surgery residency program at Sanford USD Medical Center as the associate program director. We modeled the program after Gundersen’s, which has an excellent national reputation. Tom Cogbill, MD, and Ben Jarman, MD, were instrumental in helping us shape the new program at USD.

What brought you to La Crosse?
On June 25, 2019, I received a text from Dr. Jarman indicating there was an open surgical position at Gundersen and inviting me to apply. Knowing the history of Gundersen’s Surgery Residency Program and their leaders, I decided to look at the program in person.

When I interviewed at Gundersen on July 8, 2019, I witnessed that Love + Medicine was not just a slogan; it was a philosophy that guides patient care and impacts the way colleagues treat each other. I realized that Gundersen’s approach to care aligned perfectly with my own, and I knew that I had found “my people.” 

Dr. Jarman successfully recruited my husband and two kids to the La Crosse community, and I accepted the position (and bought a house!) on August 18, 2019. Our lives completely changed course in the span of just two months! 

What do you love about Gundersen Health System?
I have worked in many types of healthcare settings, and too often money dictates time and priorities. Surgeons can be treated as a commodity. Gundersen’s philosophy is different because there is an institutional commitment to education. 

Here, you must be highly skilled in your role as a physician or surgeon, and you must also love to teach. The commitment to education, along with the dedication to research and serving the community, is not typical of all organizations. 

What excites you most about your new role?
Developing individual residents—watching them grow and become autonomous in skill development and clinical judgement and taking a leadership role in patient care—is like becoming a parent. It is like raising incredible kids every day. I have tremendous pride in our graduates and the impact they will make by serving a wide variety of communities as general surgeons. 

What should people know about the Foundation’s Medical Education General Surgery Residency Program?
First, I hope people understand the excellent reputation Gundersen has in the medical community nationwide. We recruit four general surgery residents each year. Typically, there are over 600 applicants, and we interview the top 40. Gundersen attracts the best of the best candidates—and many of them will choose to stay at Gundersen or in the region after they graduate.

Next, I hope people recognize the scope of our program’s impact. The United States is facing a significant shortage of general surgeons. Yet, about 80 to 90% of general surgery residents nationally go on to complete a subspecialty fellowship instead of becoming general surgeons. At Gundersen, though, approximately two-thirds of our graduates go on to practice true broad-spectrum general surgery. For the one-third of our graduates who complete fellowship training, the majority of them continue to practice general surgery and also bring a subspecialty skillset to their community. 

By giving residents opportunities that guide and reinforce their interest in general surgery, we will help combat the national shortage. In some cases, our graduates may help keep small rural hospitals throughout the nation and across the globe alive. In all cases, these surgeons will take Gundersen’s special brand of Love + Medicine with them to positively impact the people and the communities they serve. 

How do you like to spend time outside of work?
My husband, Matt, is a professor of Special Education at Viterbo University. Because we are both educators, we share our mutual love for lifelong learning with our two kids. 

Our daughter is a high school senior who is passionate about playing tennis, the Health Science Academy and serving the community. Our son is a sophomore who is passionate about school and playing football, basketball and baseball. So, we spend most of our free time at our kids’ sporting events, but we also have two English labs that enjoy long walks.