GLORIA TOO, MD
Assistant Professor and Division Director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School
In August 2017, Dr. Gloria Too started her job as an Assistant Professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS). By graduation the following spring – not even a full year later – she had won three awards for teaching excellence.
A specialist in high-risk obstetrics, Dr. Too is an enthusiastic educator who also has taken on influential administrative roles at EVMS.
“I absolutely love teaching,” she says. “We’re training the next generation who will be treating our families and friends in the future. It’s a big responsibility to not just teach them the medicine and science but to help them become good, caring physicians.”
As a clinician, Dr. Too practices on campus and at EVMS satellite offices in Virginia Beach and Newport News. Complex chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease are common in her patients, who often have received little previous care.
“Many are significantly sicker than they know,” Dr. Too relates. “We have a short period of time to make sure they are at optimum health to deliver a healthy child. It’s intense, but hopefully that care and education can make a lifelong difference.”
Born in Kansas, Dr. Too spent most of her childhood in Northern Virginia. She double majored in Physiology & Neurobiology and Psychology at the University of Maryland and earned a master’s degree in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry at Georgetown University.
In medical school at EVMS, Dr. Too gravitated to OB/GYN Obstetrics for the close bonds she could build with expectant mothers. She stayed at EVMS for her internship and residency and completed a fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center.
While Dr. Too has lost track of how many babies she has delivered, each birth still feels special. “What’s really incredible is seeing the family’s reaction,” she relates. “You realize every time how wonderful and amazing it is.”
A natural leader, Dr. Too quickly stepped into leadership roles at EVMS. She served as Director of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clerkship and Committee Chair for the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Program Evaluation Committee until she stepped down in 2021 to become Division Director for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
One of Dr. Too’s current goals is to expand clinical care beyond the walls of medical facilities, which she hopes could help reduce historically poorer pregnancy outcomes in minority and low-income populations.
Those efforts likely will involve more outreach programs, community partnerships and telehealth, including remote monitoring of blood pressure, glucose levels and other vital signs. “The more we can bring medicine to patients, the more impact we can have,” Dr. Too says.
Dr. Too also is a Service-Learning Leader and Advisor for EVMS’ “Mother and Baby Mermaids” initiative, which allows medical students to work with at-risk pregnant women during group prenatal care counseling sessions. She says the most meaningful of her multiple teaching awards have come directly from her students and residents.
A co-author of several journal articles on hypertensive disorders and post-partum stroke, Dr. Too would like to see more funding for research on high-risk pregnancy treatments. She is interested in studying congenital heart disease in the near future.
Married with two children, ages 8 and 11 months, Dr. Too enjoys running, traveling and joining her son on zoo trips and games of Pokémon Go. One day, she knows that a doctor she has trained may care for her own kids.
“EVMS is a very community-centered school, and many graduates stay here,” she says. “It’s an honor to be part of their training.”
Outstanding Achievements recognizes a local physician for accomplishments in the areas of education, medical innovations or introduction of new treatments and technologies to the region. It is our honor to recognize these accomplishments. Please let us know if there is a physician who deserves recognition in this column. Email: holly@hrphysician.com
