Paul E. Cox MD, MS

Dr. Cox has always believed that health is one of our most precious gifts that needs to be supported and protected throughout our lives. It was this belief that led him to the practice of medicine. Dr. Cox grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains and the shadow of the University of Tennessee. He learned early the transformative power exercise and healthy living can have in a person’s life. He went to a local private college, Carson Newman, known for academic excellence in the sciences and attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville for his master’s in science for Exercise Physiology on an athletic scholarship. He attended the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis for his MD from 1995-1999.

He chose the specialty of Family Medicine for its reputation for being the specialty of “treating the whole patient”. He completed internship and residency at the Atlanta Medical Center family medicine residency program from 1999-2002. Always an entrepreneurial spirit, Dr Cox opened Paramount Family Medicine 6 weeks after graduation in August 2002 and operated that practice out of the Downtown Atlanta area at AMC for 10 years. During that time, he developed the philosophy that health care is much more than hurried examinations, writing prescriptions and attempting to preserve each patient’s current level of compromised health. To Dr. Cox, healthcare is maintaining, optimizing and supporting patients in the prevention, reversal or early treatment of disease and age related decline.

This philosophy leads to the question: How can we leverage the healthcare technology and research available today to ensure we protect our health while looking and feeling our best?  Early in his career Dr. Cox was one of the first non-core (Plastic Surgery, ENT, Dermatology) physicians in the Atlanta area to receive extensive training in neurotoxins (Botox) and fillers. This proved to be a natural addition to his offerings for his patients.

As the medical director of an Atlanta medical spa, Dr. Cox was trained in Smartlipo (laser assisted lipolysis) by one of the original trainers for the procedure. He has performed thousands of these minimally invasive body contouring procedures since 2008 and was one of the first in Atlanta to offer the procedure.

Seeking the guidance of truly evidence-based training in the innovative field known as “Anti-Aging,” Dr. Cox found the well-regarded organization known as the American Academy of Anti- Aging Medicine. Through diligent study and training he completed both the written and oral board certifications with the organization in 2010. He followed this in 2011 with training in the then almost unknown procedure of bioidentical hormone optimization through small subcutaneous implants with the father of pellet technology the late Gino Tutera, MD.

All of this education revolutionized the way Dr. Cox practiced medicine. He realized that patients needed education, support and true continuity of care to make lasting changes in their health. He understood that healthcare should support a lifestyle that can be maintained for years. He also knew this vision is not compatible with the current low value, insurance based and depersonalized reality of our current state of primary care in the US. So, he made the difficult decision to close Paramount Family Medicine and create a new practice that supported his vision of healthcare.

What would become Vital Living Healthcare was born in September 2012 in the offices of a Oculoplastic Surgery office in Buckhead. Dr. Cox introduced the concept of science based comprehensive primary care there in 2013. In 2017 Vital Living Healthcare moved to Sandy Springs. Nurse Practitioner Jordan Carney joined the practice in 2019 and Dr. Caroline Abruzese, a well-respected member of the concierge medicine community joined forces with Dr. Cox in 2022. Vital Living is proud to offer retainer based (concierge) primary care, non-surgical facial aesthetics with neurotoxins and fillers, comprehensive skin care services (one of Dr. Cox’s favorite jokes is that “this is the only office you can get a physical and a facial in the same place on the same day”).

In 2020 Dr. Cox purchased WIFH, a well known aesthetic medical practice in Sandy Springs. In 2023 Dr. Cox is realizing his dream of creating a one stop destination for comprehensive, state of the art, science-based healthcare and aesthetics for patients who truly are committed to health as a lifestyle. The joining of WIFH and Vital Living Healthcare will be the fruition of that journey that started many years ago.

In his spare time, Dr. Cox likes to garden, see his parents in Big Canoe, spend time with family and friends, especially his nephews, drive and show his antique cars, and travel with his partner, Steve. The current charitable organizations he supports are the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, Atlanta Humane Society, Atlanta Food Bank, and the Human Rights Campaign.