Times Observer photo by Stacey Gross Genine Martin.

Genine Martin has seen lots of things change at Warren Pediatrics.

She’s been there 30 years.

And while a 30-year run with the same employer is a great thing, it’s not particularly abnormal in and of itself. What’s interesting is that Martin, as well as a vast majority of the staff at Warren Pediatrics, were once patients of the practice.

In high school, Martin said, she knew she wanted to go into medicine. But watching her sister, who was in medical school, go through the furious coursework and “learn to sleep standing up” wasn’t quite for her. She’d never heard of a Physician’s Assistant (PA) until her friend told her that’s what she was going to school for.

It was no surprise Martin hadn’t heard of a PA. At that time, there were only a handful of universities that offered PA coursework. The degree itself actually grew out of former military personnel that left the service with a lot of medical knowledge and training, but without the formal education to become doctors, Martin said.

Martin and her friend both graduated from Gannon’s PA program. She said she worked part-time as a PA in the field of internal medicine and part-time at Warren Pediatrics until her son went to Kindergarten, at which point she went full-time at Warren Pediatrics.

“For the most part,” said Martin, “‘it’s a happy specialty.”

The greatest part of the job for Martin could be illustrated one day recently when she had three generations of patients in her office.

“The grandma, the dad, and the dad was bringing his child in,” said Martin.

Developing a rapport with families, she said, goes beyond giving her all the good feelings.

It makes it easier to diagnose issues or recognize and anticipate problems when you’ve got a personal family history to go on, said Martin.

“The continuity is really great,” she said. “It’s neat. It’s fun when patients come back as parents.”

It’s a happier specialty than most, said Martin, because for the most part “when the kids get sick, they usually get better.”

Not so much with adult specialties, according to Martin.

“I’ve always enjoyed pediatrics. I just enjoy watching the kids grow up.”

From changes in staff — Warren Pediatrics had around six employees when Martin started in 1987 — to changes in vaccines, there were three when she started compared with the 35 on today’s schedule, Martin said she’s seen a lot.

A lot of changes and a whole lot of people.