When your gut is out of balance, it doesn’t just affect digestion—it impacts your energy, mood, sleep, weight, and immune system. Many people silently struggle with bloating, fatigue, brain fog, and chronic discomfort without realizing these symptoms often begin in the gut. Left untreated, such issues can lead to serious conditions like inflammation, metabolic disorders, and emotional burnout. This growing need for root-cause solutions—ones that go beyond prescriptions—has created space for a more holistic, functional approach to healthcare.
Dr. Anna Toker, Owner & Medical Director of Skandii MedSpa, is leading that change by blending over two decades of experience as a Board-Certified Colorectal Surgeon with her deep knowledge of nutrition and lifestyle medicine. Recognizing that many health challenges stem from poor gut health rather than the need for surgery, she developed her digital wellness platform and the transformative “Gut Check” program to help individuals regain control of their health through evidence-based care.
Under her leadership, Skandii MedSpa evolved from a traditional aesthetic clinic into a thriving digital wellness brand, forming strategic partnerships with global companies like Super Patch, PFC3, and BioHarvest, where she contributes as a medical advisor and board member. Dr. Anna’s use of robotic colorectal surgery, combined with her focus on personalized, gut-centered healing, has earned her national recognition and helped position the company as a trusted name in the growing wellness space. With the digestive health market projected to surpass $72 billion by 2027 (ET Health), her forward-thinking leadership is paving the way for long-term innovation, patient empowerment, and transformative care that truly starts from within.
From Spa to Screen
Dr. Anna Toker began her journey in wellness by launching a medical spa, which she later transitioned into a fully digital wellness platform under her name. As her focus shifted toward online health education and social media outreach, she stepped away from overseeing the aesthetic practice to concentrate on creating accessible, evidence-based content. With 22 years of experience as a colorectal and gastrointestinal surgeon, Dr. Anna noticed a growing trend among her patients around 2018—many were dealing with weight gain, digestive discomfort, and chronic issues that didn’t require surgery but rather nutritional guidance.
This realization inspired her to integrate nutrition into her care approach. Together with her husband, she opened a Med Spa rooted in the philosophy that “food is medicine,” blending aesthetic treatments with anti-inflammatory diets and holistic wellness. Although the spa’s operations were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this setback became an opportunity. Dr. Anna Toker began developing and sharing educational content through on-demand webinars focused on gut health, nutrition, and weight loss. This digital shift led to collaborations with global wellness brands, podcast features, and broadcast media appearances, expanding her influence beyond the clinic into the wider world of wellness.
Dr. Anna has 162,000 followers on Instagram, 38,000 on Facebook, and 3,000 on YouTube. She especially hopes people will check out her YouTube channel and subscribe.
Nutrition First, Surgery Last
At the heart of Dr. Anna’s approach is a strong commitment to putting patients first. She believes that modern medicine has become too focused on:
- Prescriptions
- Surgeries
Her goal is to change that by ensuring every patient feels heard, understood, and respected.
Dr. Anna Toker also firmly believes that most chronic health conditions begin with gut inflammation, commonly known as “leaky gut.” Unless it’s an emergency or a cancer case, she starts with nutrition as the first line of treatment. She emphasizes the body’s natural ability to heal itself and the importance of building trust by staying up-to-date with science and offering evidence-based care. Her continued work as a practicing surgeon helps maintain the integrity and credibility behind her wellness philosophy.
High-Tech Wellness Practice
In Dr. Anna’s med spa and surgical practice, she has embraced a major shift toward minimally invasive procedures. This includes advanced techniques like robotic surgeries as well as enhanced recovery methods that use nutrition, physical therapy, and energy-based technologies such as lasers, sound therapy, and infrared. These innovations have led to better patient outcomes, faster recovery times, and greater overall satisfaction. For Dr. Anna, it’s especially rewarding to see patients heal and thrive with less downtime, supported by modern tools like radiofrequency and other cutting-edge aesthetic treatments.
Purposeful Hiring and Human-Centered Healing
Dr. Anna believes that building the right team starts with hiring the right people. Through experience, she has learned that smart hiring is essential to long-term success. Many of her team members have been with her for decades, sharing her strong patient-first mindset and a commitment to helping each person they serve. She places great importance on supporting her team not just professionally, but personally—creating a balanced, family-like environment where everyone feels valued. Dr. Anna treats her team like an extension of her family, and in return, they show up motivated, not because of gimmicks, but because they truly care.
Dr. Anna Toker believes that the foundation of great healthcare is treating every patient like a close family member. This approach naturally leads to the highest level of care, clinically, financially, and emotionally. At Skandii MedSpa, the focus is never on overselling treatments, especially in the competitive field of aesthetics, where unnecessary services are often pushed. Instead, the team prioritizes the patient’s well-being and budget while still delivering a premium experience. This genuine care and respect build lasting trust, with some patients staying loyal for over 20 years. Whether it’s a colonoscopy, body sculpting, or a facial, patients return because they know they’ll be treated with honesty, kindness, and professionalism.
Path to Medical Excellence
Dr. Anna entered the medical field at a time when there were few women in the profession, and those who were women had to work twice as hard to prove their worth. This challenging environment often led female physicians to adopt a more aggressive approach to keep up with their male counterparts. Over time, however, she realized that success didn’t require mimicking male behavior, because women bring their unique leadership strengths. Technically, she knew she was equal, if not ahead, of many in her specialty.
What truly made the difference for her was authenticity. Dr. Anna Toker believes that maintaining balance in personal life—whether as a wife or mother—alongside professional excellence is key. For her, success in medicine isn’t about loud marketing or endless networking, but about being relatable, skilled, and building real one-on-one relationships with patients. She has found that trust, personal connection, and consistency are what define true leadership in healthcare.
Role Model for Women in Medicine
One of Dr. Anna’s proudest achievements is her ability to maintain a fulfilling personal life and a trailblazing medical career.
She reflects on this through:
- Balancing a strong marriage and raising two successful children while managing a demanding medical career
- One of the few women in her surgical specialty, inspiring future female healthcare leaders
- Exclusively practicing robotic colorectal surgery to advance minimally invasive care.
- Transforming a Med Spa setback during the pandemic into a thriving digital wellness platform
These milestones reflect Dr. Anna’s resilience, innovation, and commitment to redefining healthcare through a more holistic, patient-centered approach.
Strategic Collaborations
Skandii MedSpa has recently shifted from operating as an in-person medical spa to building a fully online wellness platform. This transition enables the brand to grow through a scalable, subscription-based mode, delivering expert guidance and evidence-based solutions to a broader audience. A key driver of this evolution has been Dr. Anna’s ability to form strategic partnerships with innovative wellness companies that align with her mission of advancing gut and overall health.
Dr. Anna Toker currently serves on the medical boards of several wellness brands and represents them as a spokesperson, bringing her medical expertise to the forefront of product development and global education.
These collaborations include:
- Super Patch: Canadian company offering 15 neuro-enhancing therapy devices for physical and cognitive performance. Dr. Anna is a board member and global lecturer.
- PFC3A Digestive health company, where Dr. Anna co-developed a digestive supplement called Zive 7, educates clients, and holds equity.
- BioHarvest: Creators of Vinia, a resveratrol-rich supplement for heart and metabolic health. Dr. Anna supports its gut health expansion and serves on the medical board with equity involvement.
Beyond these collaborations, Dr. Anna is advancing her signature program, “Gut Check,” a 10-component framework designed to help individuals regain control of their health.
The program addresses core wellness goals, including:
- Digestive balance
- Blood sugar control
- Reducing inflammation
- Enhancing energy and mental clarity
With more people seeking sustainable solutions for fatigue, brain fog, and chronic health issues, Gut Check offers a comprehensive, evidence-based path to wellness. Drawing on over two decades of surgical expertise and her deep understanding of the gut-brain connection, Dr. Anna delivers insights that are medically sound, practical, and empowering. Patients often describe her as a “sherpa guide” on their wellness journey—someone who simplifies complex health science into actionable steps.
Gut-Centered Future
Dr. Anna Toker envisions a future where personalized, gut-health-focused solutions take center stage in the wellness industry. As she gradually steps away from her surgical practice over the coming years, she plans to strengthen her corporate partnerships and expand her impact in the digital wellness space. She remains open to collaborating with companies dedicated to improving gastrointestinal health and anticipates greater integration between functional medicine and overall wellness in the years ahead.
Don’t Forget Yourself
As a seasoned physician, Dr. Anna Toker shares practical and insightful guidance for those entering the medical field. She advises new doctors to first master the standard of care—establishing a strong clinical foundation—while remaining open to integrative approaches such as alternative medicine, eastern practices, and physical therapy. This broader perspective, she explains, enables more comprehensive and holistic patient care. Equally important, Dr. Anna stresses the need to prioritize family life, urging young professionals not to lose sight of personal well-being after years of demanding medical training.
Drawing from her experience during the pandemic, she warns against taking on unnecessary financial burdens, such as costly equipment and overheads, which can limit future flexibility. Instead, she recommends pursuing debt-free education through avenues like scholarships, military service, or public service programs. Lastly, she reminds aspiring physicians that while the best medical decisions are often made in service of the patient, they may not always align with profit-driven models. Building a career on solid financial footing empowers doctors to uphold their values and focus on what matters most: compassionate, patient-first care.
Dr. Anna Toker’s 5 Impactful Business Mantras
- Put Patients First, Always: Listen deeply, build trust, and deliver care that truly heals.
- Heal at the Root: Focus on gut health and holistic solutions that go beyond symptoms.
- Innovate with Purpose: Use cutting-edge tech and minimally invasive methods to transform wellness.
- Build a Tribe of Care: Hire and nurture a team passionate about genuine patient-first service.
- Lead with Heart and Authenticity: Balance expertise with empathy to inspire lasting impact.
