After years in emergency medicine, Dr. Vassily Eliopoulos (Dr. Vass) coded a man in a rural Wyoming ER who was his age, had no other risk factors, and looked exactly like him. That night pushed him from the ER toward longevity medicine and cardiovascular prevention.

In this episode of HuMed, pediatric ER physician Dr. David Spiro talks with Dr. Vass about why doctors neglect their own health, the "golden handcuffs" that kept him stuck, how therapy and CBT-I helped him heal from years of night shifts, and why he believes disease care and true health care are two different systems. He also walks through his longevity pyramid, built on community, purpose and sleep, not supplements and saunas.

CHAPTERS

0:00 He coded a man who looked exactly like him

0:28 Meet Dr. Vass: ER doctor turned longevity physician

2:05 The code in Rock Springs, Wyoming

4:48 Why doctors neglect their own health

8:13 The lost art of healing

11:03 "We're training technicians, not physicians"

15:07 Trapped in a broken system

18:18 The golden handcuffs

20:44 Healing from decades of night shifts

28:30 Disease care vs. true health care

35:37 Why no one told Dr. James Wittig he was sick

39:04 Advice to his younger self: don't let fear decide

42:32 Dr. Vass's longevity pyramid

44:55 What dying patients talk about

47:51 Purpose: the old dog and the rabbit

51:21 A quarterly "board meeting" with his kids

53:16 Fasting, thermal springs and community

57:54 Closing thoughts

Watch the full video on YouTube: HuMed with David Spiro, MD

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HuMed unveils the human side of medicine through real stories from physicians. This episode is for education and storytelling, not individual medical advice.