"I'm a wanna-be cowboy who never got over it," says Bert Johnson, a rodeo honcho who also happens to be a gynecologic surgeon at the Medical School.
Growing up in California's Central Valley, Johnson, '48, MD '52, bought his first horse at age 13. After a stint at Northwestern Medical School, where he did his residency, he hustled back to teach at Stanford and settled in Los Gatos. "When the other doctors were joining country clubs, I bought a ranch," says Johnson.
Since 1960, Johnson has competed in the Salinas Rodeo every year. Last year he won the over-50 team-roping contest -- a two-person event in which one cowboy ropes a steer by the horns or neck and his partner ropes its hind feet. The team with the fastest time wins. Finishing first at Salinas, he says, is "the pinnacle, the World Series, the Final Four."
Team roping is a dangerous event, but Johnson seems unfazed by the prospect of losing his fingers -- and thus his livelihood. "I teach residents not to make decisions out of fear," he says. Johnson is just as matter-of-fact with his patients. In post-op rounds, he advises that the best diet includes three to four servings of lean meat per week. Colleagues wince, but Johnson dismisses them. "There are a lot of tofu and vegetarian types around Stanford these days," he says.
But not a lot of cowboys. Johnson, 71, plans to be back in Salinas this summer.
