Sonia Malhotra, MD, MS, FAAP, FAAHPM, FACP

Associate Professor of Internal Medicine & Pediatrics

Associate Chief, Palliative Medicine; Associate Program Director, Internal Med-Peds Residency
Phone
(504)702-5700
School of Medicine
Department
Medicine General Internal Medicine Geriatrics
The Program in Medical Ethics and Human Values Adjunct
Pediatrics Med Peds
Palliative Medicine
malhotra

Education & Affiliations

MD, Ross University School of Medicine, Dominica West Indies, 2007
MS in Medical Education, University of Pittsburgh, 2015
Internal Medicine & Pediatrics Residency, Tulane University School of Medicine, 2012
Chief Residency, Pediatrics, Tulane University School Of Medicine-Ochsner Pediatrics, 2012-2013
Fellowship, Adult & Pediatric Hospice and Palliative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 2014

Areas of Expertise

Hospice and Palliative Medicince (Board Certified)
Internal Medicine (Board Certified)
Pediatrics (Board Certified)

Biography

Dr. Sonia Malhotra is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Tulane University.  She completed Med-Peds residency training and a year as Pediatrics Chief Resident at Tulane.  She further completed a year of Adult and Pediatric Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh where she also did a Master’s in Medical Education.  Dr. Malhotra is board certified in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Hospice and Palliative medicine.  She previously served as Medical Director of the Ochsner Palliative Medicine program where she created the first Pediatric Palliative Medicine program in the state of Louisiana.  Currently she is the Director of Palliative Medicine services at University Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana and holds faculty appointments at Tulane University School of Medicine, LSU School of Medicine, and the joint program between University of Queensland/Ochsner Clinical School.  She is Chair of the Early Career Professionals’ Group through the Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine.

Dr. Malhotra has been recognized with various teaching and community awards including the Tulane Owl Club Award for Best Pediatrics Resident, the National Med-Peds Resident Association’s “Howard Schubiner” Award, Resident of the Year in Pediatrics and Medicine-Pediatrics, the Asian American Physicians of Indian Origin Resident/Fellow Award and the University of Queensland/Ochsner Clinical School Educator of the Year Award in 2016.  Additionally, she received the New Orleans Gambit Magazine 40 Under 40 Award in 2016 and the Heart of Hospice Champion of Excellence Award in 2017. 

Her medical education interests include teaching Primary Palliative Medicine skills to medical students, residents, fellows and other allied health professionals.  She serves as a leader for Pallitalk, a patient-doctor communications course at the University of Pittsburgh for Palliative Medicine professionals.  She currently writes questions for the online Palliative Medicine modules through the Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Dr. Malhotra has published in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry and has authored several book chapters on Adult and Pediatric Palliative Medicine including the American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine’s UNIPAC series.  She has received Grant support for her work in Pediatric Palliative Medicine education and training across the country from the University of Pittsburgh in 2014 and the American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine in 2016.  She has presented at multiple national conferences.

Interests:

  • Fluent in Hindi and Punjabi languages
  • Proficient in Spanish and Gujarati languages
  • Learned classical Indian dances Bharatnatyam and Kathak
  • Enjoy dancing, reading fiction and historical texts, hiking, and traveling

 

Research

Dr. Malhotra has published in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry and has authored several book chapters on Adult and Pediatric Palliative Medicine including the American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine’s UNIPAC series.  She has received Grant support for her work in Pediatric Palliative Medicine education and training across the country from the University of Pittsburgh in 2014 and the American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine in 2016.  She has presented at multiple national conferences.

Contributions

  1. Finn L, Roche Green A, Malhotra S; Oncology and Palliative Medicine: Providing Comprehensive Care for Patients with Cancer; The Ochsner Journal. 2017 December.
     
  2. Malhotra S, Nelson S, Gabbard, J, Blais C; HIV; 2017; “UNIPAC 9: Caring for Patients with Chronic Illnesses: HIV, Dementia,Neurological” by American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine
     
  3. Ulep, R, Malhotra S; Palliative Medicine: Management of Serious Illness; 2017 ; “Clinical Approaches to Hospital Medicine: Advances, Updates and Controversies” by Conrad K; Springer-Verlag GmbH, Heidelberg (in press)
     
  4. Malhotra S & Maurer S; Pain Management; 2015; Chapter 8 in “Supportive Care in Pediatric Oncology” by Feusner & Hastings; Springer-Verlag GmbH, Heidelberg
     
  5. Jordan A, Malhotra S, Maree R, Schenker Y, Arnold RA, Reynolds C; Depression and Grief in Older Adults: A Palliative Medicine Approach; Harvard Review of Psychiatry. 2015 September.
  • Fluent in Hindi and Punjabi languages
  • Proficient in Spanish and Gujarati languages
  • Learned classical Indian dances Bharatnatyam and Kathak
  • Enjoy dancing, reading fiction and historical texts, hiking, and traveling