HuMed with David Spiro, MD

David Spiro
  • 4.4 (14)
  • Medicine
  • Updated Weekly

HuMed goes beyond diagnoses and procedures to explore the profound human experiences of medical professionals. Join Dr. Spiro as he engages in deep, candid conversations with fellow doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers. They share the often-unseen realities of their work in the demanding hospital environment – the challenging cases, the emotional toll, and the ethical dilemmas they navigate daily.

  1. 20h ago ·  Video

    Stop the Bleed: The Simple Skills That Could Save a Life | Dr. David Shapiro

    What would you do if someone were bleeding severely—and help was miles away? In this episode of HuMED, Dr. David Spiro welcomes back surgeon and critical care physician Dr. David Shapiro for a powerful conversation about the moment that changed how he understood emergency preparedness. Years ago, while mountain biking through remote terrain between Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park, Dr. Shapiro encountered an injured cyclist with a deep leg wound and significant bleeding. With no reliable phone service, limited first-aid supplies, and professional help far away, he had to improvise a pressure dressing and remain with the cyclist until assistance arrived. That experience left him with a lasting question: What if nobody had come along? Today, Dr. Shapiro serves as a leader in the American College of Surgeons’ Stop the Bleed program, a public-health initiative that teaches ordinary people how to recognize and respond to life-threatening bleeding before professional help arrives. The conversation explores: • How to recognize potentially life-threatening bleeding • Direct pressure, wound packing, and tourniquet use • What belongs in a practical bleeding-control kit • Why internal bleeding may be difficult to recognize • How trauma resuscitation has evolved • Good Samaritan protections for people who help during emergencies • Why bleeding-control kits should be available alongside AEDs • How Stop the Bleed applies to accidents, outdoor injuries, and violence • What communities learned from Sandy Hook and other mass-casualty events • The responsibilities and limits of bystander intervention • How to access free Stop the Bleed training Drs. Spiro and Shapiro also discuss firearm violence, mental health, social isolation, and the need to address both emergency preparedness and the underlying causes of violence. This episode is ultimately about empowerment. You may never need to use these skills—but learning them could give you the confidence to act during the minutes when action matters most. Free Stop the Bleed education and course information are available at StopTheBleed.org. Content note: This episode includes discussion of traumatic injury, severe bleeding, firearm violence, and mass-casualty events.

  2. 3d ago ·  Video

    The Night Beirut Exploded: A Doctor’s Story

    What happens when a physician suddenly finds himself responding to one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in modern history? In this episode of HuMED, Dr. David Spiro speaks with Dr. Khalil Diab, a pulmonologist, critical care physician, associate professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine, and host of the Lebanese Physicians Podcast. On August 4, 2020, Dr. Diab was having dinner with his family in Beirut when the ground began to shake. Moments later, a massive explosion tore through the city. After receiving an urgent call for all available medical professionals, he rushed to the hospital and entered a mass-casualty environment unlike anything he had experienced before. Patients arrived with devastating injuries caused by shattered glass, collapsing ceilings, and the force of the blast. Physicians from every specialty worked together as the hospital ran short of ventilators, patient identities remained unknown, and medical teams were forced to make rapid life-or-death decisions. Dr. Diab shares what he witnessed that night, what it took to care for so many critically injured patients, and how the experience affected him as a physician, husband, and father. The conversation also explores: • Moving his family from the United States back to Lebanon • Practicing medicine within the Lebanese healthcare system • How financial instability affects medical decisions and patient care • Raising children amid political and economic uncertainty • Why the Beirut explosion ultimately influenced his return to the United States • The medical conditions physicians encounter in Lebanon that are less common in the U.S. • How people adapt to instability, conflict, and crisis • Why he created the Lebanese Physicians Podcast • The power of storytelling to reveal the human side of medicine • How podcasting can amplify valuable voices—and spread misinformation • Why listening to people on the “other side” matters This is a deeply personal account of medicine under extraordinary circumstances—and a reflection on resilience, identity, family, conflict, and our shared humanity. ABOUT THE GUEST Dr. Khalil Diab is a pulmonologist and critical care physician and an associate professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine. After completing his medical training in the United States, he returned to Lebanon with his family and practiced there during a period marked by political upheaval, economic collapse, COVID-19, and the 2020 Beirut port explosion. He is also the host of the Lebanese Physicians Podcast, where he documents the experiences and stories of physicians connected to Lebanon. ABOUT HuMED Hosted by Dr. David Spiro, HuMED explores the people and experiences behind medicine. Through honest conversations with physicians, healthcare professionals, patients, and other compelling guests, the show reveals the human stories that rarely appear in medical charts or textbooks. #BeirutExplosion #Lebanon #CriticalCare #Medicine #PhysicianStories #MedicalPodcast #Healthcare #HuMED

  3. Jul 21

    Muscle is Medicine

    What if one of the most important tools for healthy aging isn’t another pill—but preserving your strength? Dr. David Spiro welcomes back Dr. Heather Hinshelwood, an emergency medicine physician whose work has expanded from treating acute medical crises to helping patients improve their long-term health and independence. Dr. Hinshelwood explains why maintaining muscle becomes increasingly important as we age. Together, they discuss strength training, cardiovascular exercise, Pilates, metabolic health, bone density, type 2 diabetes, and the challenge of creating sustainable lifestyle change without shaming patients. They also explore: • Why muscle supports mobility and independence • The relationship between strength and metabolic health • How resistance training may support healthier aging • Why cardio and flexibility still matter • How older adults can begin exercising safely • The value of knowledgeable coaching • Why it is never too late to improve your health This conversation isn’t about becoming an elite athlete. It’s about preserving the ability to carry groceries, rise from the floor, pursue the activities you enjoy, and remain independent for as long as possible. What do you want to remain capable of doing at age 80? HuMed with David Spiro, MD explores the human side of medicine through candid conversations with physicians, patients, and healthcare leaders. This episode is intended for education only and does not replace individualized medical advice. The discussion includes the speakers’ perspectives on exercise, metabolic health, and medications. Consult a qualified healthcare professional before changing medications or beginning a new exercise program.

  4. Jul 7

    When Will You “Grow Up”? Medicine’s Hidden Culture of Labels

    Why do we ask physicians in their 30s, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” In this episode of HuMed, Dr. David Spiro sits down with Emma Cooke, MD, an internal medicine physician, Med-Peds graduate, and author of a thought-provoking JAMA essay exploring how a simple question reveals deeper issues within medical culture. Together they discuss: Why medical trainees are often defined by their future specialty rather than who they are today How unconscious bias shapes evaluations, mentorship, and career opportunities The challenges women continue to face in medical training Why physicians should connect with trainees as people—not stereotypes How empathy, curiosity, and human connection create better teachers and better doctors This conversation challenges long-held assumptions about medical education while offering practical ways to build a more compassionate culture for learners, physicians, and patients alike. Whether you’re a physician, trainee, healthcare professional, educator, or simply interested in the human side of medicine, this episode offers an honest look at identity, bias, and what it truly means to grow as a doctor. About HuMed HuMed with David Spiro, MD explores the human side of medicine through conversations with physicians, nurses, patients, and healthcare leaders who remind us that compassion is just as important as clinical expertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  5. Jul 2

    The Patient I’ll Never Forget | Dr. Tommy Martin

    What makes medicine worth the sacrifice? Dr. Tommy Martin—a pediatric hospitalist at Boston Children’s Hospital, physician, endurance athlete, and one of medicine’s most influential voices on social media—shares the patient encounter that changed his life forever. After a long residency shift, Tommy was exhausted and simply wanted to get home to his wife and son. Instead, one final patient reminded him why he became a doctor. The next morning, he returned with one unforgettable meal. That single act of kindness reshaped how he practices medicine—and why he believes every patient deserves our full presence. In this deeply personal conversation, Dr. David Spiro and Dr. Tommy Martin discuss: • The patient who restored Tommy’s passion for medicine • Why medicine isn’t worth it without human connection • Caring for children with complex medical needs • Parenting a child with autism and a rare genetic condition • Finding balance between medicine and family • Authenticity, vulnerability, and physician burnout • Why love, presence, and compassion remain medicine’s greatest tools If you’re a physician, healthcare professional, student, patient, or simply someone who believes kindness still matters, this episode is for you. Subscribe for weekly conversations exploring the human side of medicine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  6. Jun 24

    He Taught Me to Be a Doctor, He was Not a Doctor

    In this deeply moving episode of HuMed, Dr. David Spiro speaks with Dr. Julia Bruckner, a pediatric emergency physician, writer, and Director of Faculty Well-Being at the University of Colorado. Dr. Bruckner shares how her father — a minister, humanist, advocate, and witness to suffering — taught her lessons about healing that medicine alone often cannot teach. Together, they explore what it means to give devastating news, sit with suffering, care for families in crisis, support physicians after trauma, and bring humanity back into medicine. This conversation moves through grief, cancer, hospice, physician wellness, pediatric emergency medicine, and the quiet power of presence. At its heart is a simple message from Dr. Bruckner’s father: because the world will die without it, go with love. Topics include: humanizing medicine, physician wellness, giving bad news, hospice, grief, narrative medicine, pediatric emergency care, burnout, compassion, and love as a form of healing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  7. Jun 16

    From Patient To Daughter

    What happens when a patient changes your life forever? In this unforgettable episode of HuMed, pediatric orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ron Turker shares the remarkable story of a one-month-old infant who arrived in the emergency department with multiple fractures and severe injuries—and ultimately became his daughter.   Dr. Turker reflects on child abuse, foster care, adoption, trauma, attachment, fatherhood, and the profound lessons he learned raising a child whose life began with extraordinary adversity. He also discusses physician empathy, judgment, chronic pain, healthcare reform, physician burnout, mental health, social media, community, and why human connection remains at the heart of healing.   This is a conversation about medicine, family, resilience, second chances, and the patient who changed everything. Topics Discussed • Child abuse and child advocacy • Foster care and adoption • Parenting and attachment • Pediatric orthopedic surgery • Chronic pain in children • Physician burnout and moral injury • Mental health and social media • Healthcare reform • Human connection and healing • The human side of medicine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  8. Jun 10

    The 10-Year-Old Organ Donor a Transplant Surgeon Will Never Forget

    What happens after a family says “yes” to organ donation? In this powerful episode of HuMed, transplant surgeon Dr. Charles Strom shares the story of a young organ donor whose life—and legacy—left a lasting impact on him during his first week of transplant fellowship. Dr. Strom takes us inside a world most people never see: the moment of honor before organ recovery, the emotional family statements read in the operating room, the realities of brain death and cardiac death donation, and the profound responsibility of helping one donor save multiple lives. We discuss: The donor story Dr. Strom will never forget How one organ donor can save up to eight lives Common misconceptions about organ donation The ethics and realities of transplantation Why some healthcare professionals still misunderstand the donation process The emotional impact of caring for donor families Balancing medicine, family, and personal sacrifice New innovations that are dramatically increasing organ utilization One of the most moving moments comes when Dr. Strom realizes the donor being honored was the same age as his own son. This conversation is about grief, hope, generosity, and the extraordinary gift of life.  Join The HuMed Weekly Newsletter:https://humed.kit.com/newsletter  Subscribe for more conversations exploring the human side of medicine. #HuMed #OrganDonation #TransplantSurgery #Medicine #HealthcareStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See All (52)

Trailer

4.4
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

HuMed goes beyond diagnoses and procedures to explore the profound human experiences of medical professionals. Join Dr. Spiro as he engages in deep, candid conversations with fellow doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers. They share the often-unseen realities of their work in the demanding hospital environment – the challenging cases, the emotional toll, and the ethical dilemmas they navigate daily.

Information

  • Creator
    David Spiro
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    52
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 David Spiro
  • Show Website
    HuMed with David Spiro, MD