Dr. Sarla Malhotra completed her MBBS from Amritsar Medical College (Punjab University), and then went on to complete her MD in Obstetrics and Gynecology from the prestigious Post Graduation Institute of Medical Education of Research (P.G.I.M.E.R), Chandigarh. She did Fellowship in Medical Sciences and Epidemiology from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She was a pioneer in establishing the state-of-art Department of Obstetrics in Government Medical College. She worked at PGI for more than 38 years before she retired as a Professor after heading the Gynecology Department at Government Medical College and Hospital for 5 years.