A native of Ohio, Dr. Curtiss earned his medical degree from Ohio State University's College of Medicine in Columbus, and completed his internship and residency in internal medicine, as well as his fellowship in cardiology, at the University of Minnesota Hospitals in Minneapolis and St. Paul. He later performed a special fellowship in cardiac catheterization at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Most of his cardiology career has been in private practice in Canton, Ohio, where he also served as Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at Aultman Hospital in Canton, and later as Program Director of the Transitional Residency Program. While in Ohio, Dr. Curtiss held various professorships, including serving as an Associate Professor in Clinical Medicine at the Canton Medical Education Foundation, Assistant Professor of Clinical Biology at Kent State University, and Associate Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine at Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine in Rootstown.

Dr. Curtiss is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in both internal medicine and cardiovascular disease. He is a member of the medical staff of Highlands-Cashiers Hospital.

He came to Highlands from Durango, Colorado, where he practiced at the Four Corners Heart Center. Dr. Curtiss is part of the staff of the Northeast Georgia Heart Center, in Gainesville, GA, which opened the Mountain Heart Center in Highlands in the winter of 2006. The Mountain Heart Center is a joint venture between the hospital and Northeast Georgia Heart Center. Dr. Curtiss is also a member of the medical staff of Highlands-Cashiers Hospital.