She received a combined MD-MPH degree from Tulane School of Medicine and Tulane Public Health and Tropical Medicine in 1991. She completed her residency training at Tulane University School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1995. She pursued a fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine from the University of California at Irvine in 1997. She received her board certification in General Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1998 and in Maternal-Fetal Medicine in 2000. She published and lectured in the areas of prematurity, placenta previa, and HIV infection in pregnancy.