Dr. James Stoever’s father was an interventional cardiologist who spent over 50 years treating patients’ cardiovascular disease. This typically involved intervening in a patient’s disease after it had progressed to a point beyond control and the damage was done. He watched his father being called to the hospital at all hours of the day and night to unblock clogged blood vessels in a patient’s heart, known as a heart attack. Dr. Stoever pursued a medical career so he too could save lives, but he preferred to do so by intervening in a patient’s health to prevent the need for those emergency interventions. Rather than following in his father’s footsteps and becoming an interventional cardiologist, he was more interested in preventive cardiology. At the time of his training, few programs offered such education. During his residency, his program director, Dr. Guillermo Umpierrez, also an endocrinologist, persuaded him to consider a fellowship in endocrinology which involves the study and treatment of major risk factors for cardiac disease: diabetes, cholesterol disorders, hypertension and obesity. 

Dr. Stoever grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He received his undergraduate degree from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He then returned to Tulsa to attend Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine where he received his Doctorate of Osteopathy. He completed his internship and residency at Atlanta Medical Center before moving across the country to obtain a fellowship in Diabetes, Metabolism and Endocrinology at the University of Washington in Seattle. Missing the warmer climate of the Southeast, he settled in Savannah, Georgia where he established The Endocrine Clinic in September of 2003. He has spent the past two decades practicing general endocrinology in the inpatient and outpatient setting. More recently, he has obtained his certification in Functional Medicine in order to return to treating patients in a more holistic manner.