Dr. Bhalla grew up in New York, close to the ocean and Manhattan. She received a B.A. from New York University and completed Medical School at Howard University’s Medical College in Washington D.C. After working in Los Angeles at a free medical clinic for 2 years with VISTA Americorps, she completed a residency in Internal Medicine & Pediatrics at UICMC in Chicago, IL. She loved the winters so much, she stayed on to complete a fellowship in International Emergency Medicine and an MPH.

Before joining PHA and moving to the bay area, she worked with the humanitarian medical NGO Doctors without Borders in South Sudan, Ethiopia, Congo (Brazzaville), Madagascar, and Jordan (Amman).