Before his career in medicine, Matthew McQuillan was a flight service manager for Continental Airlines Inc. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Arts from St. John’s University in 1987. In 1996, he graduated from Rutgers University’s bachelor PA program, and then received his Master of Science from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 1999. He is currently working on his dissertation for his Doctor of Medical Humanities degree from Drew University in New Jersey.
After graduation from the Rutgers University’s PA program, McQuillan worked in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital, New York and then at The Doctor Is In, Inc., New Jersey from 1996-2007. He has also worked with An Ounce of Prevention, Inc., Florida (2006-2010) and Access Health Systems, New Jersey (2002-2012).
McQuillan’s career in PA education began in 1997 as an adjunct clinical instructor for Rutgers University School of Health Professions. He became a member of the principal faculty in 1998. In 2012, he accepted the position of Assistant Director, Clinical Education, associate program director in 2014, and then program director in 2018; a position he continues to hold. McQuillan became Vice President of the Department of PA Studies and Practice in 2019, and Interim Chair of the Department in 2021.
McQuillan became a Distinguished Fellow of the AAPA in 2009. He has received a Certificate of Recognition (2005), Outstanding PA of the Year (2003) and a Certificate of Appreciation (1999) from the New Jersey State Society of PAs. He received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 2002.
McQuillan has served as a commissioner on the board of the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the PA (ARC-PA) from 2008-2013 and 2018 to the present. He was Chair of the ARC-PA from 2020-2021. He has also been a site visitor for the Commission since 2002.
He has been a fellow of the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) since 1996. McQuillan has served on the AAPA House of Delegates as the New Jersey State Society’s delegate from 1999-2000 and as New Jersey’s Chief Delegate in 2000, 2003, and 2005. McQuillan was a member of the Rutgers PA Program Student Chapter of the New Jersey State Society of PAs and served as co-president from 1993-1994. He served on the NJSSPA’s Board of Directors as a member at large (1999-2001), President (2001-2002), and Immediate Past President (2002-2003). He has also served on various committees and workshops for the PAEA and the NCCPA.
McQuillan has volunteered at the New Jersey Special Olympics since 1999 and at the Hope Clinic in Plainfield, NJ since 2016.
Acknowledgments: This biography was prepared by PAHx Staff with the assistance of Mr. McQuillan. It was submitted to the Society in November 2021.
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