Podiatric Surgeon
Dr. Alton
Wound Care Specialist
Johnson
Board-certified podiatric surgeon and Certified Wound Specialist Physician at Michigan Medicine. 105 presentations. 37 publications. A national voice in limb preservation.
What he does
One mission, three fronts.
Clinician: limb preservation that changes outcomes
As a faculty physician and surgeon in Orthopaedic Surgery at Michigan Medicine, Dr. Johnson treats diabetic foot ulcers, chronic wounds, and complex lower extremity conditions, work he has carried from Miami to Philadelphia to Ann Arbor.
Educator
He teaches medical students, residents, and fellows at the University of Michigan, and mentors future podiatrists nationwide through AJ Educational Empowerment LLC.
Researcher and voice
With 37 peer-reviewed publications and columns in Podiatry Today and WoundSource, he pushes wound care forward and speaks openly about healthcare equity.
The record
A career built on receipts.
“Successful healing depends not just on clinical decisions, but on empowering patients and understanding their lived reality.”
Dr. Alton Johnson, LINK Wound Care Insights live podcast, on the Wound Balance conceptThe person behind the credentials
From Miami to Michigan Medicine.
Dr. Johnson was the first podiatrist to complete the University of Pennsylvania's Post-Doctoral Certificate in Clinical Research, and the only podiatric clinical investigator selected for the 2020 NIH/National Medical Association Academic Medicine Fellows Program. He built that path from Miami classrooms to one of the top academic medical centers in the country, and now he holds the door open for the students coming behind him.
Insights
Latest from the blog.
Rising Star: Five lessons from Dr. Johnson's Dean's Chat interview
What a candid hour with the Dean's Chat hosts reveals about mentorship, wound care, and building a career in podiatric medicine.
July 2026 · 6 min read
The Daily Diabetic Foot Self-Check
A one-page routine for patients living with diabetes, distilled from the habits Dr. Johnson teaches in clinic.
Patient resource · PDF
The Road to Podiatric Medicine
A mentor's roadmap for pre-med and podiatry students, from someone who walked it: applications, residency, fellowship, and beyond.
Student resource · PDFBring Dr. Johnson to your stage, panel, or program.
Keynotes, grand rounds, podcasts, and advisory work in wound care, limb preservation, medical education, and healthcare equity.