“All physicians have the power to be advocates,” says Brady resident Logan Galansky, M.D., “for their patients and practices, for the future of the specialty, and for research and innovation.” And yet, “for too long, doctors have taken a back seat to that. We do our training for years to help cure or mitigate a whole range of medical maladies, but there are economic, social, and political factors that affect patient care, too.”

Galansky has been named the American Urological Association (AUA)’s 2023-2024 H. Logan Holtgrewe Legislative Fellow. This means, in addition to seeing and treating patients, she participates in meetings of the AUA’s Public Policy Council and Legislative Affairs Committee, its annual Urology Advocacy Summit, and the Brandeis University Executive Leadership Program in Health Policy & Management. She will also work for a month in a legislator’s office in Washington, D.C.

The AUA’s selection committee was impressed with Galansky’s “unmatched understanding of public policy.” How did she develop this? “I took a nontraditional, circuitous route to medicine,” she says. After graduating from Pomona College in California, Galansky worked as a senior research analyst for a health care consulting firm and on Capitol Hill as a Senate intern. During this time, “I saw a large gap between what policymakers were saying and doing and what was actually feasible and pragmatic for clinical care.” She also wanted to help patients one-on-one, so she went to medical school at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

Now she is working to bridge this gap, taking care of patients and helping the broader practice of medicine. “The AUA sends a survey to all its members to set a list of priorities for the year,” she explains. Based on what practicing urologists see as important issues, the AUA sets national advocacy goals. These include “getting Medicare coverage for PSA screening; more aid for urologic trauma for Veterans; better screening for underrepresented minorities with prostate cancer; more clinical trials relevant to urology; and surgical care of pediatric urology patients with disorders of sexual differentiation.” Then there are issues that span all of medicine, including: “some of the regulations that really contribute to limiting patient care and physician burnout; improving prior authorization, Medicare payment structures; drug pricing; step-up therapy; and rural access to care. All of these things affect urology patients just as much as any other.”

Galansky is the Brady’s third Holtgrewe fellow. She credits the support of her mentors, Mohamad Allaf, M.D., Arthur Burnett, M.D., and John Gearhart, M.D. “I’ve had a wonderful experience at the Brady. I’m incredibly thankful that I get to do my training here. My goal is to be a good doctor and a good surgeon, and I’m also passionate about bringing physicians’ voices to the table.” In urology, “we have seen tremendous advances in treatment, thanks to Dr. Walsh and others at the Brady. We should have that same intensity and vigor in how we advocate for them in a legislative sense.”

Who Was Logan Holtgrewe?

Urologist H. Logan Holtgrewe, M.D., joined the Brady faculty in 1988. Before this, he was in private practice in Annapolis, MD, where he became well-known as an outstanding urologist and scholar. A member of the AUA’s executive committee, he became the AUA’s spokesman in the area of urologic health policy and socioeconomics. Patrick Walsh, M.D., remembers Holtgrewe as “one of the most active part-time teachers at the Brady. Ever faithful, you could count on him attending Grand Rounds every week, always sitting in the same seat – second row on the right next to the wall. He rarely spoke without being asked a question, but his answers were golden, well thought-out and based on years of experience and education.” Holtgrewe was elected President of the AUA in 1992, and in 2001, he received the AUA’s highest honor, the Ramon Guiteras Award, for his outstanding contribution to the art and science of urology. That year, he was also made a full Professor of Urology at the Brady. Prior Holtgrewe Fellows from the Brady are Kevin Koo, M.D., M.P.H., M.Phil., in 2018, and Cary “CJ” Stimson, Jr. M.D., J.D., in 2015.