Difference Maker: Dr. Vincenzo Galati helping patients, raising awareness around testicular cancer

Surgeon and general urologist Vincenzo Galati got his first glimpse of how rewarding a career in health care could be when he was a junior in high school. He said he volunteered at Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville, Missouri, and there, he was able to learn what it’s like working with patients and doctors who truly love what they do.

“It’s just a great feeling to help people … as humans, it’s something we should all strive to do in some form or another in our lifetime. … It’s human nature to want to contribute and want to try to help people, and this just gives me the opportunity to be able to do that,” Galati said.

Galati works at Cape Girardeau Urology Associates, specializing in DaVinci Robotic Surgery, general urology and surgery. He says he loves his workplace and “everyone there is like family.”

He works with Saint Francis Healthcare System and serves as chief of urology at Southeast Hospital. He performs prostate cancer, kidney cancer, testicular cancer and kidney stone surgeries. He also treats a broad range of urological disorders.

But Galati doesn’t just help treat patients. He also works to spread awareness and educate others through volunteering with The Walks Foundation — a not-for-profit focused on raising awareness and providing education and financial support for men, boys and families in the fight against testicular cancer.

“[Testicular] cancer is one of the more treatable cancers … and the type that you can detect early,” Galati said. “The issue is not having the knowledge. A lot of kids out there and young adults don’t know … so we have some work to do in regards to public health and trying to increase awareness.”

In 2022, Galati wrote letters to area schools encouraging them to increase education on testicular cancer detection and self examination. He also recommended The Walks Foundation and its founder Nate Gautier to lead educational workshops within schools, which they are in the process of developing.

Galati has created several prototypes that could be used in schools to help teach young men and boys how to perform self examinations. Galati says education is everything in helping detect cancer early.

Recently, Galati helped The Walks Foundation with fundraising efforts and they were able to raise $53,000 that will go to support cancer patients and their families in Southeast Missouri. He was also the foundation’s 2023 LemonDrop Long Drive’s overall fundraiser.

He says he was drawn to urology after being exposed to new robotics used in surgery at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit during his third year of medical school rotation. Galati attended Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri, and completed his residency at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

“In general, urologists are pretty happy when you talk to them and that’s one of the things that kind of drew me into the specialty. [They] got to take care of a broad range of patients. It wasn’t just pediatrics, it wasn’t just older adults, it was a wide range and they were just a happy specialty,” Galati said.

What Galati loves most is spending time with his wife, Stephanie Galati, their four children and extended family. They love visiting Sicily, Italy, where Galati’s family is from and where he spent part of his childhood. He and his family are parishioners at St. Vincent de Paul in Cape Girardeau.

“Enjoying [my family] is a big priority of mine,” Galati said. “Life’s precious. It’s easy to take it for granted, but when you work in the medical field, you deal with situations that are life and death situations. And you’re with patients when they’re [in their] most vulnerable state, and you really get an appreciation for how precious humanity is, and how precious life is.”