Fall 2026 Newsletter
Academy Spotlight: Susan Pross, PhD
Creating Space for Curiosity, Integration, and Lifelong Learning
Interviewed by Shanu Gupta, MD, FACP
Creating Space for Curiosity, Integration, and Lifelong Learning
Interviewed by Shanu Gupta, MD, FACP
Academy Spotlight: Susan Pross, PhD
Creating Space for Curiosity, Integration, and Lifelong Learning
Interviewed by Shanu Gupta, MD, FACP
When Susan Pross, PhD, arrived at the University of South Florida after completing her doctoral training, she expected a career grounded primarily in biomedical research. Teaching would be part of the job, but she never anticipated it would become such a defining part of her professional identity. What she found was a young medical school still discovering itself, with room for creative approaches to medical education.
"I came from a very established institution," she recalls. "Everything had a history. At USF, everything was new. People were constantly asking, 'How should we do this?'"
For Dr. Pross, that question became an invitation. Rather than inheriting courses, she was helping create them. Rather than following established traditions, she and her colleagues were building something together.
"I loved it," she says. "I liked the creation part."
That spirit of curiosity and innovation has remained a constant throughout a career that has spanned decades of change in medical education.
From Content Ownership to Shared Stewardship
One of the most significant transformations Dr. Pross has witnessed has been the evolution from department-centered teaching toward integrated curricula.
"When I started, departments largely taught their own content," she explains. "Over time, we evolved toward teaching by topic and integrating disciplines. I love that."
As curricula became increasingly integrated, faculty were asked to rethink long-held assumptions about ownership. For Dr. Pross, the shift required something more profound than curricular redesign.
"Give up the idea, 'that's my content.' It's nobody's content—or it's everybody's content."
She recalls consulting with another institution struggling to implement content integration because faculty members were reluctant to relinquish portions of their subject matter. Yet when educators let go of ownership and focus instead on learner needs, something powerful happens.
"You can create a lot of space in the curriculum if you're willing to do that," she says. "Then you can put in important new things that people say there's no room for."
It is a deceptively simple observation, but one that resonates far beyond curriculum committees. Some of the most meaningful innovations in education emerge when faculty move from protecting territory to sharing responsibility.
Embracing Change While Staying Grounded
Throughout our conversation, Dr. Pross returned repeatedly to the theme of change.
"I like change when it's for the good," she says.
That openness has helped her navigate shifts in curriculum, technology, and learner expectations. Yet she is equally thoughtful about preserving what matters most.
One example is student attendance.
"We're always saying students don't come to class," she notes. "But life has changed. Education has changed."
Rather than trying to recreate old models in new formats, she believes educators need to ask deeper questions about what learners truly need and what educational experiences are worth gathering for.
Her perspective on artificial intelligence is similarly pragmatic.
"It's here. You don't have to have an opinion about whether it's coming. It's already here. The question is: How are we going to use it?"
At the same time, she recognizes the realities faced by medical educators who must innovate while working within accreditation standards and institutional requirements.
"You don't have the right to just blow things up," she says with a smile. "But you also don't want to be behind the curve."
More Than Recognition
When asked how induction into the Academy of Distinguished Educators influenced her professional identity, Dr. Pross did not talk about recognition or accomplishment. Instead, she spoke about responsibility.
"I think I feel more responsible to exemplify what it stands for."
Whether she is delivering a lecture, writing assessment questions, or mentoring colleagues, she remains mindful of what academy membership represents.
"It's not just a certificate. It's a moving, living definition. You want to continue to represent what it stands for."
She believes academies should serve a similarly active role within their institutions.
"A strong academy should help educators grow, help institutions adapt to change, and serve as a source of thoughtful educational leadership."
In her view, academies should be conduits—bringing innovative ideas into institutions while sharing successful practices back out to the broader educational community through collaboration, scholarship, and publication.
The Hidden Impact of Education
While Dr. Pross spoke passionately about curriculum and faculty development, her greatest enthusiasm emerged when discussing scholarly concentrations. For her, these programs are about much more than enrichment.
"They allow students to find their people."
Whether through humanities, health disparities, nutrition, or business, scholarly concentrations create communities where learners can explore dimensions of themselves that may not fit neatly into the formal curriculum.
One story, in particular, has stayed with her. A student who was struggling academically once told her that participation in his scholarly concentration was one of the primary reasons he remained motivated in medical school. It connected him to his purpose and reminded him why he wanted to become a physician in the first place.
"There are always agendas behind the agendas in education," she reflects. "Sometimes the programs we create support people in ways we never anticipated."
She describes concentrations as spaces characterized by curiosity, mentorship, and belonging.
"There's a certain kindness in the concentration. It's not cutthroat. It's to develop. You have the freedom to be you and grow. "
Dr. Pross shared stories of students working alongside physician-writers, artists, dancers, and humanities scholars; of learners discovering communities centered around narrative medicine; and of opportunities that helped students become not only better physicians but fuller human beings. Those experiences, she believes, can be just as transformative as anything found in a textbook.
Helping Learners Become Who They Are Meant to Be
Looking back on her career, Dr. Pross hopes her learners leave with more than knowledge. Many medical students may never become immunologists. They may not remember every detail of T-cell receptor recombination or rare immunodeficiency syndromes. But she hopes those experiences broaden how they think about medicine, about the people they serve, and even about their colleagues who embraced varied academic pathways.
"Maybe they come back later and say, 'I didn't realize it at the time, but it made me think differently.'"
That focus on curiosity, perspective, and growth surfaces throughout her educational philosophy.
Perhaps nowhere is it clearer than in the way she contrasts medical education with other learning environments.
"The expectation and the hope is that students will all find their dreams," she says.
Medical education, she believes, is not about sorting learners into winners and losers. It is about helping each learner move toward their aspirations.
"We know what their goals are. Our goals are to get them to their goals. We're on the same team."
Final Thoughts
Across a career spanning decades of educational innovation, Susan Pross has remained committed to a simple but powerful idea: great education is about helping learners become who they are meant to be.
Whether advocating for integrated curricula, mentoring future educators, championing scholarly concentrations, or challenging educators to rethink "ownership" of content, she embodies the values that academies seek to cultivate—curiosity, collaboration, innovation, and lifelong growth.
Her reflections also serve as a reminder of why communities like the Academies Collaborative matter. They create space for educators to exchange ideas, challenge assumptions, and learn from one another's journeys both within their home institutions and also nationally.
After all, if there is one lesson woven throughout Susan Pross's story, it may be this:
Education is at its best when we stop asking what belongs to us and start asking what will help learners thrive.
Creating Space for Curiosity, Integration, and Lifelong Learning
Interviewed by Shanu Gupta, MD, FACP
When Susan Pross, PhD, arrived at the University of South Florida after completing her doctoral training, she expected a career grounded primarily in biomedical research. Teaching would be part of the job, but she never anticipated it would become such a defining part of her professional identity. What she found was a young medical school still discovering itself, with room for creative approaches to medical education.
"I came from a very established institution," she recalls. "Everything had a history. At USF, everything was new. People were constantly asking, 'How should we do this?'"
For Dr. Pross, that question became an invitation. Rather than inheriting courses, she was helping create them. Rather than following established traditions, she and her colleagues were building something together.
"I loved it," she says. "I liked the creation part."
That spirit of curiosity and innovation has remained a constant throughout a career that has spanned decades of change in medical education.
From Content Ownership to Shared Stewardship
One of the most significant transformations Dr. Pross has witnessed has been the evolution from department-centered teaching toward integrated curricula.
"When I started, departments largely taught their own content," she explains. "Over time, we evolved toward teaching by topic and integrating disciplines. I love that."
As curricula became increasingly integrated, faculty were asked to rethink long-held assumptions about ownership. For Dr. Pross, the shift required something more profound than curricular redesign.
"Give up the idea, 'that's my content.' It's nobody's content—or it's everybody's content."
She recalls consulting with another institution struggling to implement content integration because faculty members were reluctant to relinquish portions of their subject matter. Yet when educators let go of ownership and focus instead on learner needs, something powerful happens.
"You can create a lot of space in the curriculum if you're willing to do that," she says. "Then you can put in important new things that people say there's no room for."
It is a deceptively simple observation, but one that resonates far beyond curriculum committees. Some of the most meaningful innovations in education emerge when faculty move from protecting territory to sharing responsibility.
Embracing Change While Staying Grounded
Throughout our conversation, Dr. Pross returned repeatedly to the theme of change.
"I like change when it's for the good," she says.
That openness has helped her navigate shifts in curriculum, technology, and learner expectations. Yet she is equally thoughtful about preserving what matters most.
One example is student attendance.
"We're always saying students don't come to class," she notes. "But life has changed. Education has changed."
Rather than trying to recreate old models in new formats, she believes educators need to ask deeper questions about what learners truly need and what educational experiences are worth gathering for.
Her perspective on artificial intelligence is similarly pragmatic.
"It's here. You don't have to have an opinion about whether it's coming. It's already here. The question is: How are we going to use it?"
At the same time, she recognizes the realities faced by medical educators who must innovate while working within accreditation standards and institutional requirements.
"You don't have the right to just blow things up," she says with a smile. "But you also don't want to be behind the curve."
More Than Recognition
When asked how induction into the Academy of Distinguished Educators influenced her professional identity, Dr. Pross did not talk about recognition or accomplishment. Instead, she spoke about responsibility.
"I think I feel more responsible to exemplify what it stands for."
Whether she is delivering a lecture, writing assessment questions, or mentoring colleagues, she remains mindful of what academy membership represents.
"It's not just a certificate. It's a moving, living definition. You want to continue to represent what it stands for."
She believes academies should serve a similarly active role within their institutions.
"A strong academy should help educators grow, help institutions adapt to change, and serve as a source of thoughtful educational leadership."
In her view, academies should be conduits—bringing innovative ideas into institutions while sharing successful practices back out to the broader educational community through collaboration, scholarship, and publication.
The Hidden Impact of Education
While Dr. Pross spoke passionately about curriculum and faculty development, her greatest enthusiasm emerged when discussing scholarly concentrations. For her, these programs are about much more than enrichment.
"They allow students to find their people."
Whether through humanities, health disparities, nutrition, or business, scholarly concentrations create communities where learners can explore dimensions of themselves that may not fit neatly into the formal curriculum.
One story, in particular, has stayed with her. A student who was struggling academically once told her that participation in his scholarly concentration was one of the primary reasons he remained motivated in medical school. It connected him to his purpose and reminded him why he wanted to become a physician in the first place.
"There are always agendas behind the agendas in education," she reflects. "Sometimes the programs we create support people in ways we never anticipated."
She describes concentrations as spaces characterized by curiosity, mentorship, and belonging.
"There's a certain kindness in the concentration. It's not cutthroat. It's to develop. You have the freedom to be you and grow. "
Dr. Pross shared stories of students working alongside physician-writers, artists, dancers, and humanities scholars; of learners discovering communities centered around narrative medicine; and of opportunities that helped students become not only better physicians but fuller human beings. Those experiences, she believes, can be just as transformative as anything found in a textbook.
Helping Learners Become Who They Are Meant to Be
Looking back on her career, Dr. Pross hopes her learners leave with more than knowledge. Many medical students may never become immunologists. They may not remember every detail of T-cell receptor recombination or rare immunodeficiency syndromes. But she hopes those experiences broaden how they think about medicine, about the people they serve, and even about their colleagues who embraced varied academic pathways.
"Maybe they come back later and say, 'I didn't realize it at the time, but it made me think differently.'"
That focus on curiosity, perspective, and growth surfaces throughout her educational philosophy.
Perhaps nowhere is it clearer than in the way she contrasts medical education with other learning environments.
"The expectation and the hope is that students will all find their dreams," she says.
Medical education, she believes, is not about sorting learners into winners and losers. It is about helping each learner move toward their aspirations.
"We know what their goals are. Our goals are to get them to their goals. We're on the same team."
Final Thoughts
Across a career spanning decades of educational innovation, Susan Pross has remained committed to a simple but powerful idea: great education is about helping learners become who they are meant to be.
Whether advocating for integrated curricula, mentoring future educators, championing scholarly concentrations, or challenging educators to rethink "ownership" of content, she embodies the values that academies seek to cultivate—curiosity, collaboration, innovation, and lifelong growth.
Her reflections also serve as a reminder of why communities like the Academies Collaborative matter. They create space for educators to exchange ideas, challenge assumptions, and learn from one another's journeys both within their home institutions and also nationally.
After all, if there is one lesson woven throughout Susan Pross's story, it may be this:
Education is at its best when we stop asking what belongs to us and start asking what will help learners thrive.
The Academies Collaborative Steering Committee produces a newsletter that includes a spotlight on a member academy, briefs on our Collaborative's work, and updates on our Annual Meeting, among other notes. Use either the tabs above to navigate to the newsletter of interest.
