A Raleigh native, Dr. Tove attended Broughton High School and then graduated from North Carolina State University with a B.S. in Chemistry. She attended medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Following graduation, she moved to Tallahassee, Florida, where she completed her family practice residency. In 1985, she returned to Raleigh and married her husband, Tom. They have a son, Aaron, and a daughter, Rachel.