Poonam Gahlla is a second year Naturopathic Medical Student at Bastyr University California located in San Diego, California. She was born and raised in Orange County and graduated from the University of California, Riverside in 2016 with a major in Business Economics and a minor in Germanic studies, while simultaneously completing the Life Science core curriculum necessary for medical school.

Poonam volunteered for 3 ½ years in the operating rooms at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center, a trauma 1 medical center located in Irvine. She was hand selected to help pioneer a volunteer program to assist in the 18+ state of the art operating rooms. Poonam went on to complete her Masters of Public Health degree in 2017 from California Baptist University.

She has had her fair share of exposure to medical doctors in her life and has always believed that there has to be a better way to help people heal. This curiosity coupled with her determination and passion for helping others heal is what sparked her love for Naturopathic healing. She is very excited about her future and the impact she will be able to make with Naturopathic Medicine. She was the proud recipient of the 2020 NMSA Rising Star Award and the 2020 NMSA President’s Choice Award. She is so excited to be able to serve the NMSA again as the VP of Social Media!

In her free time, Poonam loves spending time with good friends, reading, exploring new cities with amazing food, and listening to great music, especially going to concerts. Poonam continues to chronicle her journey to becoming a Naturopathic doctor in a blog that she has run for a few years called A SoCal Girl’s Journey. She is also very passionate about giving back to those in need, which is why she recently launched a small business, Lyrical Graffiti Online. This not only provides a creative outlet for her, but is also a platform that allows her to give back to those in need.