James Norman MD, FACS, FACE

The Norman Parathyroid Clinic

Tampa, FL

Dr. Norman is a member of the EndocrineWeb Editorial Board.

James Norman, MD, FACS, FACE is recognized as one of world's foremost experts on parathyroid disease and the most experienced thyroid/parathyroid surgeon in the world. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) and one of only a handful of surgeons to also be a Fellow of the American College of Endocrinology (FACE). He is recognized as the inventor of minimally invasive radioguided parathyroid surgery in the mid 1990s and is credited with dramatically changing the way parathyroid surgery is performed.

Dr Norman has held several important academic positions, including Professor of Surgery and Professor of Internal Medicine (with tenure) at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. He also held the position of Director of Endocrine Surgery at USF and the Director of Surgical Core Laboratory for Surgical Research. Dr Norman left USF in 2000 to open the Norman Parathyroid Clinic where he currently limits his practice to parathyroid surgery.

He is a member of more than 20 prestigious medical societies, including the American Association for Endocrine Surgeons, American College of Surgeons, American College of Endocrinology, American Association for Clinical Endocrinology, Endocrine Society, Society of University Surgeons, American Association for Head and Neck Surgeons, Society of Surgical Oncology, AOA medical honor society (top 10% of doctors), and many more. He was the president of his medical school class, been voted 'Faculty of the Year' and 'Teacher of the Year' several times, and served many leadership roles within the societies he belongs. He has been recognized as one of America's Top Surgeons by the Consumer Research Council of America.

Dr Norman has published more than 250 medical journal articles as well as 12 books and/or book chapters and he continues to publish on a near-monthly basis. Dr Norman holds 9 US and foreign patents (with another 3 patents pending), including the patent for the techniques and tools used in radioguided parathyroidectomy which recognize his contributions to minimal parathyroid surgery. Dr Norman has received more than $4.2 million in federal and industry grants to support his research, including grants from the Department of Veteran's Affairs.

Thyroid Nodule Ultrasound

Once a thyroid nodule has been detected (or suspected), there are a few things that the physician will want to know before any recommendations can be made regarding treatment.

The Diabetes Center

Diabetes is a very big topic! To make the diagnosis, complications and treatment of diabetes more understandable, we have broken "diabetes" into several dozen diabetes topic pages which go into more and more detail. Our search engine will help you find specific diabetes information, or you can come back to this introduction page to see each of the diabetes topic pages listed.

Your Thyroid Gland

The thyroid gland is the biggest gland in the neck. It is situated in the anterior (front) neck below the skin and muscle layers.

Thyroid Gland Function

Some information on this page is a little more advanced. If you have trouble understanding the process of normal thyroid function, please go to our page describing this process first.

Thyroid Problems and Pregnancy

The most common thyroid disorder occurring around or during pregnancy is thyroid hormone deficiency, or hypothyroidism. The details of hypothyroidism are covered on several other pages on our site, so only those factors pertaining to pregnancy are discussed here.

Hypothyroidism: Too Little Thyroid Hormone

Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the body lacks sufficient thyroid hormone. Since the main purpose of thyroid hormone is to "run the body's metabolism," it is understandable that people with this condition will have symptoms associated with a slow metabolism.

Thyroid Cancer

There are about 37,000 new cases of thyroid cancer each year in the US, according to the National Cancer Institute. Females are more likely to have thyroid cancer at a ratio of three to one. Thyroid cancer can occur in any age group, although it is most common after age 30, and its aggressiveness increases significantly in older patients.

Hyperthyroidism: Overactivity of the Thyroid Gland

There are readily available and effective treatments for all common types of hyperthyroidism. Some of the symptoms of hyperthyroidism (such as tremor and palpitations, which are caused by excess thyroid hormone acting on the cardiac and nervous system) can be improved within a number of hours by medications called beta-blockers (eg, propranolol; Inderal).

James Norman MD, FACS, FACE

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