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| Dean and Kathy Johnston |
Dean L. Johnston, MD ’79, always believed he would extend his family’s legacy at Wake Forest University School of Medicine by donating to the scholarship fund established by his parents. He just thought it might not happen until much later.
Reading letters from medical students who received the Johnston Family MD Scholarship made him reconsider when and how to support that legacy.
“I thought, ‘Wow, mom and dad, that’s cool. You did right,’” says Dean, now retired after working for more than 30 years in plastic and reconstructive surgery alongside his wife, Kathy, in Orlando, FL. “That is what convinced me to want to give now and through our estate.”
The Johnstons recently chose to add to the Johnston Scholarship Fund by making annual donations during their lifetime through qualified charitable distributions from an IRA. Instead of waiting to give after their estate is settled, they decided to make gifts now because they want to continue seeing the impact the scholarship has on the school’s Johnston Scholars.
The donations build on the family legacy started by Dean’s father, the late Harold W. Johnston, MD ’43, House Staff ’51. He and his wife, Mary Jane, established the scholarship through their estate.
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| Currently, the Johnston Scholarship is helping Emmanuelle Camille of the School of Medicine’s MD Class of ’26. “It was with your scholarship that I was able to make my dream possible and attend this prestigious institution,” Camille shared in a letter to the Johnstons. “My first year was exciting, eventful and much more impactful than I could have ever imagined. None of it would be possible without your efforts, and for this I am grateful.” |
Impacting Patient Lives
Just like his father, Dean chose medicine and medical education at Wake Forest, but instead of choosing thoracic surgery as his father and brother did, Dean took a different path of plastic surgery.
He says that although plastic surgeons may not save lives the way other physicians do, they do fix problems that make people's lives worth living.
“I went into plastic surgery not to get rich, but to have an impact on patients’ lives who were hindered by a disfigurement and not able to move on with life,” he says. “I looked at it as helping people at the worst periods of their life when they find out they have some terrible physical problem that you can fix, or you can help do reconstructive surgery after cancer is removed. I appreciated that and never thought twice about it.”
Dean spent virtually his entire career with Kathy by his side. The couple met in Phoenix, AZ, where Dean was finishing plastic surgery residency. Kathy worked as a critical care travel nurse and in the operating room before meeting Dean and following him to Florida. She worked as Dean’s nurse and office manager, running various aspects of the practice’s business operations.
“We worked hand-in-hand together doing whatever needed to be done,” Kathy says. “She actually was the boss of everything,” says Dean. “All I had to do was practice. She took care of all the problems and everything I couldn’t do.”
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| “My hope is that students who benefit and know firsthand the challenges of medical school will inspire and help those coming up behind them.” Dean Johnston, MD Class of '79 |
Financial Wisdom
By working together, their practice became a kind of family for them. They often wrote off bills owed by patients who couldn’t afford to pay. They wrote off so much some years that as they got closer to retirement they wondered if it was feasible financially for them to retire. But it was their frugal approach to their finances and wise investment choices that made it possible for them to donate to the scholarship.
“I always figured I would make enough money to be able to put kids through college, but as it turned out, we didn’t have children, and Kathy and I ended up being aunts and uncles,” he says. “Over the years, I learned the importance of being financially literate along with picking a good financial adviser. That’s really the reason I was able to even think of endowing the medical school with some funds to help students.”
Although each scholar the Johnstons help has a distinctive story, each shares the dream of becoming a physician. For those students, the Johnston Scholarship plays an essential role in making their dreams come true, and hearing from the student scholars each year helps make the Johnstons appreciate their investment even more.
“Medicine gave me a valuable life that was well worth living, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. The school was so good to me, and I know that many students today come out of medical school with tremendous debt. They’re the ones who need help right now.”