At Olansky Dermatology & Aesthetics, our mission is to provide our patients with compassionate skin care and medical education, giving them the comfort and confidence to live healthy and beautiful lives. We put our patients first, working to constantly improve their experience, and demand excellence from our entire team. We value patient, team, and community-focused care, because we believe that everyone deserves healthy skin.
But those aren’t philosophies we plucked out of thin air. Rather they are principles steeped into our culture from its very beginnings. Here’s more about the history of our practice, from an interview with Dr. David Olansky himself.
Influence & Inspiration
Dr. David Olansky is an apple who fell not very far from the tree of his father.
“He was my hero and he was also a dermatologist,” Dr. Olansky says when asked how his father influenced him.
Dr. Olansky watched his father treat his patients with caring, individualized attention early on. “I remember one time, my dad was called out to a nursing home by a woman’s husband; he was very concerned about his wife’s skin condition. I tagged along to help, and when we arrived, this little guy met us at the door — clearly very nervous and anxious for his wife. He went back into her room, and told her with relief, ‘Dr. Olansky is here to help.’”
“It turns out, her problem was overwhelmingly simple – just very dry skin. But it was almost like we changed his life and their whole world just teaching him how to use some lotion and keep her moisturized.”
“I saw the powers that [my father] had then — just by being good to them, coming to take care of them.”
This powerful influence inspired both Dr. Olansky and his older brother Alan to pursue dermatology themselves. Though two years apart in age, they both graduated from their separate residencies (Alan at the University of North Carolina and David at what is now Virginia Commonwealth University) just as their father was retiring from Emory. The three decided to go into private practice together, and in 1981, Olansky Dermatology was born.
Early Beginnings
Olansky Dermatology’s first location was established in Atlanta’s Peachtree Summit building, “It was the middle of the gas crunch at the time,” Dr. Olansky reflects, “and there was a direct connection to MARTA in the basement of the building, which we thought would help our patients.”
As the practice grew, offices moved locations twice, including for a few years at 550 Peachtree Street, before settling into the current Buckhead location. (The Roswell office was established in the early 1990s.)
An Opportunity for Growth
Overall, the Olansky family connection yielded more positive promise than anything else. After being mentored by Dr. Vincent Peng — a top dermatology surgeon in Atlanta, who also happened to be a student of his father’s — Dr. Olansky decided to pursue a Mohs surgery fellowship in 1990.
“I was the fourth guy to do that in the city of Atlanta,” Dr. Olansky explains. “It wasn’t necessarily a new procedure at the time (Dr. Mohs began developing it in the 1930s), but it was new to be offering it in Atlanta. Dr. Mohs had been one of my father’s teachers, so it was even more of an honor to learn his method.”
New Players, New Horizons
While Dr. Olansky went through his Mohs fellowship, his brother and father still needed help in Atlanta. Dr. Mark Holzberg, who at the time had just completed his dermatology residency at Emory University, was taken on to assist. “Dr. Holzberg was incredibly helpful,” Dr. Olansky asserts, “and the practice just grew organically from there,” including adding Dr. Alexander Gross as partner for a time.
Further growth and change has come more recently, when Dr. Alan Olansky retired from the practice six years ago.
“That’s when Dr. Jodi Ganz came in,” Dr. Olansky remembers. “She took ownership of the practice and has really remodeled it in the shape of her own vision and passion. Working with her is even better than working with your own family in some ways,” he chuckles.
One of Dr. Ganz’s major contributions included expanding into cosmetic dermatology and aesthetic services. “My father, brother and I were noncosmetic doctors — no slaves to fashion, if you know what I mean,” Dr. Olansky laughs. “But it’s been an important part of our business growth, and yet another way to serve our patients, plus another whole part of our community.”
This expansion has brought with it an even greater abundance of star players at Olansky Dermatology & Aesthetics, including Dr. Jodi Ganz, Dr. Kelli Ingram Baender, Dr. Humza Ilyas (also a renowned Mohs surgeon specialist), Dr. Sonya Bellamy, Dr. Amanda Harpring, and a great team of physician assistants and other key medical staff. New office manager Trent Renta is also “taking the office to the next level,” following Elaine Benuck’s long-time, high-quality commitment.
“The thing I like most about our current practice,” Dr. Olansky reflects, “is that every single person thinks their job is important. No matter how menial the job may seem on the surface — no matter what their role is — they all really feel like they are participating in something that matters.”
It’s a legacy that began with Dr. Sidney Olansky, who taught his sons early on to abide by the Golden Rule. “You may still make mistakes,” Dr. Olansky says about this lesson, “but if you’re treating others the way you want to be treated yourself, at least they won’t be egregious mistakes.”
So, when will enough growth be enough for Atlanta’s premier full-service dermatology practice? “We just want to make sure that feeling of personal care — that special, caring connection that we provide — doesn’t go away because we get bigger,” says Dr. Olansky. “That’s something we always have our eye on.”
To learn more about the services and care provided by Olansky Dermatology & Aesthetics, visit us online, or call (404) 355-5484.
