Maureen O’Neill, M.D., FAAP, is a board-certified Pediatrician currently practicing general pediatrics at the Providence Medical Associates/Axminster Wateridge Location and is associated with Torrance Memorial Medical Center and Providence Little Company of Mary, Torrance. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of the Los Angeles Pediatric Society.

“When I was around five years old, I formed the idea that I would become a doctor. I wanted to serve others and provide care for the suffering. My childhood idol was Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and I dreamed of joining her work with the poor,” she says. “While I never pursued that dream, I retain a great desire to care for the underserved.”

Dr. O’Neill initially thought she would pursue medical oncology as a specialty but was won over to pediatrics by personal encounters with children during her training, as well as the professionalism of her colleagues. Dr. O’Neill believes, “Pediatricians are uniquely positioned to provide medical care in the context of families and provide advocacy for patients who may not have a voice of their own.” She particularly enjoys combining the science of academic medicine with the art of caring for patients and their families. “I have enjoyed growing with my patients as they journey from birth to college. Many of my former patients have returned with their children, and I feel privileged to have continuity from one generation to the next,” she says.

Dr. O’Neill’s natural affinity for adolescents emerged during her work with teens on Community Helpline and crystallized during her years volunteering in teen youth ministry. “Working with teens is, for me, the most challenging and rewarding work. My philosophy of care is a holistic approach, which includes each child’s medical, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. “I am passionate about ensuring that all children receive excellent care, no matter their circumstances or resources, she says.”

Throughout her career, she has been heavily involved in committee work promoting excellence, improving the workplace, caring for the caregivers, and inspiring providers (particularly in preventing burnout). Always active in the medical community, Dr. O’Neill was the Site Lead at Providence Medical Associates Westchester/Hawthorne Peds Offices from 2015 to 2020 and served on the Axminster Medical Group Board of Directors for many years before that.

Dr. O’Neill earned her medical degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. She received the UCLA School of Medicine M.D. award, the Merck Book Award, and Recognition of Achievement in the UCLA/Soviet Medical Student Exchange. She completed her internship and residency in pediatrics at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where she was named Resident of the Year, NICU New Beginnings. Before medical school, Dr. O’Neill received her B.S. in Biochemistry from UCLA, where she received Departmental Honors in Biochemistry and graduated Magna cum Laude. She attended El Camino College in Torrance for her undergraduate studies, where she received the El Camino College Women’s Center Leadership Award and Departmental Honors in Chemistry and Math.

Dr. O’Neill enjoyed her years as an Assistant Professor at the UCLA School of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, where she helped train new generations in the medical profession. Active in the community, Dr. O’Neill has been a Clinician Experience Project PMA Liaison, an Own-It PMA volunteer, and previously served as the Vice President and Board Member of the Community Helpline. She is currently a volunteer Teen Youth Minister/Catechist for Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.

Dr. O’Neill has been married for 38 years to Bob Abernathy, a rocket scientist who works for Aerospace, where they met. Although they have no children of their own, they have 15 nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews, and great-great nieces and nephews. She says delightedly, “As a pediatrician and youth minister, I have thousands of children!

Dr. O’Neill enjoys traveling the world with her husband and visiting family in Sonoma, California, and Austin, Texas. She is looking forward to traveling again after the pandemic has eased up. When she is not working, she enjoys taking walks with Bob from their house to the beach, doing high-intensity cardio workouts on a trampoline, core training, and light weightlifting at home during the pandemic.