Dr. Johnson was raised in Dothan, Alabama. He attended Emory University on a full National Merit Scholarship. He was accepted to begin medical school prior to obtaining a bachelors degree (an offer that is extended a couple of times a decade by the University of Alabama School of Medicine), but opted to finish his BS degree at Emory before entering medical school.

An MD was obtained from UAB in 1981. Two years of General Surgery Residency were completed at the University of Kentucky as a prerequisite for Urology Residency at the University of Illinois in Chicago (1983-1987). Dr. Johnson practiced Urology for two years in Portsmouth, Va., prior to moving to the Nashville area in 1990.