PSPA EDUCATING FOR THE FUTURE
At the 50th Anniversary celebration of the PSPA Conference, PSPA was proud to present the 2025 PA Educator of the Year Award. For many years now University of Pittsburgh has brought forth nominations, and this year again, one of their faculty members was honored.
Professor Susan Graff, PA-C who is director of the Residential PA Program has shown exemplary service to the PA profession with her consistent and wholehearted commitment to the University of Pittsburgh PA students and faculty. In the midst of earning a doctorate and raising young children, her mission at the PA program has been pure dedication to educating the future of our profession.
Several students wrote letters of support noting her passion for education, inclusivity, mentorship and dedicated focus to student well-being. A few noted how she has helped shape their professional journey, how she made extra effort to guide and direct difficult decisions that students encounter in schooling and social and community life.
From the faculty standpoint, every support letter noted how Susan works to have faculty informed and part of the team to instill better learning for PA students. As one colleague put it: “her team-oriented leadership is rooted in collaboration, humility and empowerment. She actively seeks input from all members of the faculty and staff, fostering an environment where diverse perspectives are valued and curiosity is encouraged. Susan has the ability to recognize individual strengths and areas for growth, thoughtfully assembling collaborative teams that leverage these qualities for collective success. She has a gift of cultivating a strong sense of community, creating a “family-like” culture among faculty and staff.”
Besides excelling at providing invigorating lectures in the set curriculum she teaches, she is well respected by the students for her work in creating and most recently expanding the Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) curriculum to include a musculoskeletal module and integrating it into anatomy labs. The students have benefitted in their clinical rotations having this skill, setting them apart from other PA students.
Susan is also co-founder of CuPID (Community, Pedagogy, Identity, Difficulty) Project which is an interactive course that explores discrimination and oppression within healthcare. Her presentations across national platforms have opened meaningful dialogue on equity and professional identity in the PA profession. She continues to foster difficult yet necessary conversations regarding racism, ableism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia. She is committed to understanding social determinants of health and shares that in her teaching, to enlighten the students in their future care of diverse patients. In addition, she has implemented the longitudinal Transgender and Gender Diverse Physician Assistant Clinical Education (TGD-PACE) curriculum, showing her commitment to inclusive, affirming and future-oriented care for all patients, especially those whose personal situations are challenged at every level of society. Her commitment to advancing a compassionate and justice-driven PA profession is commendable.