Undergraduate Education

Physician Assistant Course in Pathology

The UMDNJ Physician Assistant Program confers a Master of Science degree upon completion of three years of didactic and clinical education. During the didactic phase of the Program, students study the basic sciences (anatomy, physiology, pathology, etc.) to prepare a foundation for the clinical sciences (clinical medicine, physical diagnosis, etc.) which are learned during the latter half of the program.

Between January and May of the first year of the PA curriculum, the Department of Pathology conducts an introductory course designed to establish a foundation of basic knowledge of general pathology and a comprehensive approach to systemic disease tailored to the needs of a physician assistant. Dr. Martin serves as the course director for the PA Pathology program, assisted by Nancy Martin, the course administrator.

Based upon the textbook, Robbins Basic Pathology, 8th Edition (Kumar, Abbas, Fausto, & Mitchell), the course provides an introduction to the mechanisms of disease and the clinical characteristics of a broad spectrum of disease entities.  The focus of our efforts are to provide a foundation for the understanding of  disease states at the molecular, cellular, tissue, organ, and organismal levels. 

Faculties from the Department lecture, facilitate discussions, present illustrative cases and gross presentations throughout the course.

Graduates of PA program consistently achieve outstanding results on the PA National Certifying Examination (PANCE) with scores that typically place them in the upper 97th percentile nationwide.


Gene Martin, Ph.D.
Course Director, Pathology Program