Medical Director-at-Large, McSwain Trauma Education Project and Consultant – McSwain Charitable Trust

Ronald I. Gross, MD, FACS completed medical school in 1976 at New York University (NYU) School of Medicine in New York, NY and his general surgery residency in 1982 at the NYU/Bellevue Medical Center in New York. After completing his residency training, he was the ICU Director at the Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, CT, where he was the lead for getting the Norwalk Hospital verified as the first American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT) Level II trauma center in Connecticut. 

Dr. Gross’ career in Trauma Surgery includes time at Bridgeport Hospital, as the Associate Director of the Department of Trauma at Hartford Hospital, as the Chief of the Division of Trauma, Acute Care Surgery and Surgical Critical Care at Baystate Medical Center, and as a senior member of the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at St. Francis Hospital. In 2021 Dr. Gross was recruited UPMC Williamsport, to assist with the growth of their trauma and acute care surgery service, and to mentor the surgeons and physician assistants during the growth of the program, culminating in their verification as a Level 2 Trauma Center by the Pennsylvania Trauma System Foundation; while in Williamsport, he held the position of Visiting Clinical Professor of Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. In 2022, he returned to St. Francis Hospital as the senior member of the Acute Care Surgery service.

Dr. Gross volunteered for service in the United States Army Reserve Medical Corps in 1988. During his years of service he rose to the rank of Colonel, served as the Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgical Services for the 405th Combat Support Hospital, was the Deputy Commander, Clinical Services of the 912th Forward Surgical Team during his deployment to Iraq in 2003, and he was honorably discharged in 2005. Dr. Gross was invited to participate in the Distinguished Senior Visiting Surgeon Program at the U.S. Army Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany in 2010 and 2011. This program was a joint effort of the ACS COT and the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, bringing civilian surgeons chosen by the program to Germany to work side by side with active duty surgeons and physicians to help care for injured soldiers from all branches, and mentor the surgical staff at Landstuhl. 

Dr. Gross was a member of the Massachusetts State Trauma Committee, has held the position of vice-chair and chair of the Connecticut State Chapter of the ACS COT, and was a member of the National ACS COT from 2008 to 2018. He was the recipient of the ACS COT Millennium Commitment Award in 2000, the “Evening to Honor Excellence” High School Scholarship Foundation Award of Fairfield in 2003, and the Public Service Award from the Southwest Connecticut Emergency Services Council in 2004. In 2015 was recognized as the 2015 Hampton County Clinician of the Year. In October 2018 Dr. Gross was awarded the National Safety Council 2018 Surgeons’ Award for Service to Safety, the highest honor awarded to a member of the ACS COT by the COT members. In 2019 he was the recipient of the William B. Long III Meritorious Achievement Award by the Chest Wall Injury Society, a society that he was a founding member of, and served as the Chair of the Board of Directors from 2017 to 2021. 

Dr. Gross is an original author of three ACS courses: the Advanced Trauma Operative Management (ATOM) Course, the Disaster Management & Emergency Preparedness (DMEP) Course, and the Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma (ASSET) Course. He was an editor of the first edition of the ATOM Course, served as the Chair of the ACS Advanced Trauma Operative Management (ATOM) Course from 2015-2018, and is currently a co-editor of the 3rd edition. He has co-authored publications on numerous trauma topics including blunt hepatic trauma, transthoracic lung herniation in blunt trauma, morbid obesity in surgery and trauma, emergency and hazmat preparedness, and the implementation of the ATOM Course. He has been an invited lecturer both nationally and internationally, has been a Stop The Bleed instructor since the inception of the course, is ATLS, DMEP, ASSET and ATOM National Faculty, and has taught many TOPIC courses.

Dr. Gross is married, has two children, and three granddaughters. He and his wife raise quarter horses; they
enjoy working their farm and showing horses on the American Quarter Horse Association circuit. He is
also avid skier and loves to fish, but above all, he loves spending as much time with family and friends as
he can.