Impact Of A Scholarship: Dr. Toni Aluko

Being a student-athlete on scholarship at Maryland not only helped Toni Aluko in track and field, but also in her professional life after graduation.

Aluko was a decorated high jumper on the Maryland track and field team from 2004-08 and served as a captain from 2006-08.

She won the 2007 ACC outdoor women’s high jump championship, was a member of the All-ACC Academic Team, and earned a postgraduate scholarship from the conference.

Through all of her athletic success in college, the lessons she learned translated into her career in the medical field.

“I’m grateful for the experiences and opportunities I had [at Maryland] and I always feel like it was such an honor and pleasure to be a student-athlete,” Aluko said. “The discipline I learned from being a student-athlete, the rigor it instilled in me, the focus it built, and the drive and the grit is still paying off now.”

The Burtonsville, Maryland, native currently works as a primary care physician at the University of Pennsylvania and has been there since she graduated from residency in July 2019.

Aluko’s job does not just entail her clinical work. She also works as one of the chairs of the Continuing Medical Education Committee, is part of a patient education committee, and is on the executive board of the Alliance of Minority Physicians at the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“[The Alliance of Minority Physicians] creates a bridge between the health system and residents, fellows, medical students, and faculty members who are underrepresented in medicine,” Aluko said.

Her experiences at Maryland led to her success in the medical field today.

Aluko was a kinesiology major and double minored in Spanish and community health, throughout her undergraduate years. During her freshman year, she considered taking the medical school route, originally thinking of becoming a physical therapist or physician's assistant.

As a student-athlete, it was hard for her to take a lot of the science courses that held labs on Fridays because of travel with the track and field team. But, when Aluko started to take classes in community health, her mindset changed.

“I realized I really loved the public health aspect of health,” she said.

This realization led Aluko to pursue her Master’s of Public Health and land an internship with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

“The summer after [that internship], I really felt like I saw my divine calling for medicine, I felt like I was being called to do it,” Aluko said.

While all of this was going on in her life, she did not hesitate to rely on Maryland.

“One of the resources available to University of Maryland alumni is the Pre-Medical Advisory Committee,” Aluko said. “I thought that was very helpful to me.”

Growing up in Montgomery County, not too far from College Park, Aluko mainly played basketball. During her junior year at Paint Branch High School, she transitioned into running outdoor and indoor track all year round.

Because of her success, she received a phone call from Maryland track and field head coach Andrew Valmon.

“When I got the call from Coach Valmon, it just felt like it really made sense,” Aluko said. “I really wanted to have the opportunity when I competed to be near my family and for them to be able to come out to track meets. It felt like it was a great service to my state university.” 

Aluko was a member of Valmon’s first recruiting class at Maryland, as he took the helm in 2003.

“Being on scholarship has been so huge, because coming out of medical school, with the amount of debt I had, I am so grateful I didn’t have to worry about that while I was competing at Maryland,” she said. “Finances can be a big stress for a lot of student-athletes.”

Aluko was one of the very few student-athletes that worked jobs during college, but her main focus was not just making money.

“I worked because I was really trying to build my resume for life after college,” Aluko said. “I am thankful it wasn’t something I had to do in order to be able to survive and I could just focus on my academics and being a strong athlete.”

During her undergraduate years, she worked at the Campus Recreation Center, which is now the Eppley Recreation Center. She also spent time as an administrative assistant in one of the offices. She was a part of the Sexual Health and Reproductive Educators through the University Health Center, educating students on healthy sexuality and safer sex practices, which she thinks was a great foundation for what she does today.

In addition to these benefits of a scholarship, the relationships Aluko made while at Maryland are ones she has to this day.

“I lived with three of my teammates and I would say part of the joy of being there was having such a close family of people,” Aluko said. “We are still very close 16 years later, so the experiences I had and the connections I made with teammates are something I will always remember.”

Human interaction is something Aluko says she greatly values, which helped her make connections at college and in the medical field.

“[We had] the leadership of the coaches, especially Coach Valmon,” she said. “Even today he always reaches out to just check-in and he always keeps me in mind for different opportunities. I love the relationships that were formed during that time.”

When thinking about her scholarship at Maryland, Aluko does not look past how it impacted her future after her time in College Park. 

“Beyond the impact [a scholarship] has on student-athletes when we are at the University of Maryland, the impact that it has on us after we graduate is profound and really invaluable,” said Aluko.

To her, the scholarship was more than just money.

“It really does pay dividends beyond the financial part,” she said. “It pays dividends emotionally, psychologically, educationally, professionally, and spiritually, and I would really want to thank the donors for that and encourage them to continue to give as much as they are willing and able to.”

Aluko is forever grateful for the opportunity to have been a student-athlete at Maryland and believes the grind she was on everyday helps her now in the medical field.

“I feel like the focus and determination I got as a student-athlete has really made itself evident in my life,” Aluko said. “First as a medical student and then as a resident, I am on call for 24 hours and going through extremely tough, emotional, and physically rigorous residency training programs.

“It’s not just about what we’re getting when we are [at Maryland] and our education is important, but the life lessons you learn and the life skills you gain are also really important,” she said. “One thing I hope to continue to see is preparing student-athletes for life after college.”