Meet Dr. Paul Stephen Thornton
I was born in Dublin, Ireland, and completed my medical school education there (hence the funny looking MD degree). After medical school, I moved to London and did some pediatric training there. Then, I moved to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia where I completed my residency and a fellowship in pediatric endocrinology. I stayed on staff at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for several years before returning to Ireland in 1996 to run the National Center for Inherited Metabolic Diseases. In 1999, I moved back to Philadelphia and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to become the clinical director of the Congenital Hyperinsulinism Center, working closely with Dr. Charles Stanley. In 2003, I moved to Cook Children's Medical Center where I am very happy to continue working and hope to retire.
I knew I wanted to become a doctor at the age of 12 and never had plans to do anything else with my life, except perhaps become a chef. Once I got into medical school at 18, I very quickly realized I wanted to be a pediatrician. However, I didn't decide to become a pediatric endocrinologist until I started my training at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (where I was fortunate to work with the world's experts in hypoglycemia who taught me everything they knew and were responsible for fostering my love for helping babies and children with hypoglycemic disorders).
As the director of Cook Children's Endocrinology department, I have focused my energy on running the Congenital Hyperinsulinism Center and participating in the congenital adrenal hyperplasia, differences of sexual differentiation and Silver Russel clinics. I continue to see a few of my patients with general endocrine disorders that I have treated over the last 13-15 years so I can help transition them to adulthood.
My passion is for clinical medicine, making children comfortable at their medical visits and about their medical conditions, making the correct diagnosis and implementing the right treatment, while doing the least amount of testing and incurring the least amount of cost for families and yet providing the best quality of care. I like to approach my interactions with families with humor, while at the same time demonstrating empathy and understanding of the difficulties they are faced with on a daily basis managing a complex medical condition. I love to do research and travel around the world educating doctors about the rare diseases I treat. I especially love this now that my wife can travel with me because at the end of the day work is not just about taking care of patients, but also being able to spend time with and enjoy family.
Services
- Disease treatment and care
- State-of-the-art testing and diagnostics
- Precision medicine for the treatment of congenital hyperinsulinism
Reviews
Average rating:
Questions were addressed |
5
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Provider explained things clearly |
5
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Likelihood of recommending this provider |
5
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Trust/confidence in physicians |
5
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February 21, 2024
Excellent from beginning to end!
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February 21, 2024
Dr. Paul Thornton was outstanding and addressed all needs of my child. His bedside manner was exceptional. He was extremely thorough, thoughtful and took his time. His nurse and and student was outstanding and very kind.
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February 05, 2024
The office staff is wonderful. Especially Laina and Ashley.
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January 16, 2024
Dr. Thornton is always friendly and has my child's best interest at heart. Even related to the other specialities she sees. Today we also had imaging that needed done for her orthopedic doctor who is not in the Cooks system. I believe Brandi is the name of the lady working the desk in radiology. Haley was the tech. They were also both very friendly and helpful. They made what could have been a very frustrating situation less frustrating because of their help and kindness. Much appreciated!
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December 20, 2023
Dr. Thornton is the best!
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November 21, 2023
The entire experience was comfortable and very helpful
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November 21, 2023
The entire staff was professional, caring, knowledgeable and friendly.
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November 20, 2023
Katie RN and Dr. Thornton
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November 03, 2023
Dr. Thornton, his nurse Katie, lab physicians.
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November 03, 2023
Dr. Thornton was unbelievable! He spent so much time taking my daughter's case so very seriously. He was so kind and friendly but also knowledgable and informative. He really explained things to all of us in a way no doctor has before. I am SO grateful to have my daughter under his care and I can certainly see how he has such a great reputation!
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November 02, 2023
The check- in desk staff for the Endocrin desk. They are always so happy and love to talk to us and make our son smile
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October 27, 2023
Staff is all great in endo clinic, nurse katie and Lanie Coffey are so kind and helpful.
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October 20, 2023
Dr. Thornton switched to the telehealth visit. Which saved me several hours of travel, and all my questions were answered. It was much easier than going to the clinic, because I live out of town. I was satisfied with our visit and felt taken care of.
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September 23, 2023
Everyone was wonderful!
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September 07, 2023
Very grateful to Dr. Thorton
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August 07, 2023
Dr. Thornton and his entire staff are the absolute best!! They always treat my child and myself with the utmost care, are so attentive, and fully invested in providing the best care and the most support.
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July 20, 2023
Experience with the special endocrinologist Thornton is very helpful, Thank you for the quality of being Human and professionalism.
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July 20, 2023
The hospitality and advice from Eliza, in charge of international patient management is of high quality, Thank you for making this visit as human and enjoyable as possible.
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July 07, 2023
Dr. Thornton is always amazing. So is Nurse Katie. The radiologist and the blood lab were also very nice.
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June 21, 2023
The MA that took us back, I didn't catch her name, but she was so patient with (patient) and all her quirkiness and took the extra time to get things right without stressing her out.
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May 16, 2023
I loved being able to see the growth charts on the TV!
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May 16, 2023
Dr. Thornton is amazing! I know he was put in our lives for a reason. He literally saved my older daughter's life and is now also treating my younger daughter, they have a rare genetic syndrome. Neither one of my daughters follows the book so to speak but Dr. Thornton is not one to shy away from a challenge. Because of him they are both not just living but thriving.
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April 27, 2023
Excellent
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April 27, 2023
The attention is impeccable
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April 20, 2023
Dr Thorton is so great. He is knowledgeable and takes the time to answer all our questions thoroughly
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April 07, 2023
Nothing but good
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April 07, 2023
Everyone that we came in contact with was amazing!!!
Education
- Medical School:
- University College, Dublin, Ireland
- Residency:
- Medicine: St. Luke's Hospital and St. Vincent's Hospital
- Pediatrics: Temple Street Children's Hospital, The National Maternity Hospital, Guys Hospital, The Hospital for Sick Children, and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Board Certifications:
- American Board of Pediatrics
- Pediatric Endocrinology
Affiliations
- Pediatric Endocrine Society,Endocrine Society,European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology,American Diabetes Association,Cook Children's Physician Network
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