Meet Dr. Malhotra

Dr. Malhotra grew up in northern Saskatchewan and watched many women and girls, especially First Nations people, have poor access to culturally safe care, especially for primary women’s healthcare. Her mother was a leader in change, and she worked in her mother’s office for over a decade learning from her and from the community.

She graduated from residency in 2005, and created a third year family medicine residency program in women’s health, which she subsequently completed along with numerous training electives across the country, mostly focused on contraception and menopause. She had a successful women’s health practice in Toronto and worked at the Bay Center for Birth Control for 3 years. She moved to Vancouver and took on the role of Medical Director of Options for Sexual Health. She held this role for 5 years overseeing (at that time) over 60 clinics. The Options Clinic offers an incredible service to people rural and remotely as well as in urban centres in BC. It was a force in the forward motion towards free contraception in BC.

Dr. Malhotra then started a practice at Crossroads Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Vancouver, where she had a very successful women’s health practice for 7 years. She took on the role of Chair at the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists  Foundation arm for 2 years, which resulted in her being awarded the Western Canadian SOGC Achievement award.

She has sat on the board of the Canadian Menopause Society (formerly SIGMA) and the Federation of Medical Women.

In parallel, still working towards increased access for rural and remote communities, she co-created the UBC women’s health third year residency program for rural and remote Family Medicine residents, which moved an urban hospital program to an accredited provincial one. She was Program Director for 10 years, helping to fill care gaps province wide.

Dr. Malhotra took on the role as Medical Officer of Women’s Health at the First Nations Health Authority from 2017 – 2025. This has allowed her to focus heavily on access, equity and patient rights. This work has been alongside partners like BC Cancer and helped to inform the need of having HPV testing in BC. She is a co-author on the Canadian Guidelines for HPV management. Dr Malhotra has co-authored a joint statement, individual statements, and standards with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC and SOGC on consent. She teaches on the topic regularly. She has testified twice at the Canadian Senate on this topic and has created provider materials in collaboration with First Nations leaders.  This work has led to her being awarded the National Reproductive Health Award (Federation of Medical Women), being named one of Canada’s most inspiring 50 under 50 Indo Canadians in 2023, and receiving the King Charles III Coronation Medal.

Dr. Malhotra is now at Westside Medical in West Kelowna while continuing her work on access and equity provincially and nationally. She is accepting menopause patients in person and virtually (residents of British Columbia only).

Learn more about Dr Unjali Malhotra’s incredible journey here.  She shares how growing up in Rural Saskatchewan has impacted her life’s work and you can find out more about her decades long dedication to women’s health and her community. CBC did an incredible job at highlighting her amazing growing legacy after she received the King Charles III Coronation Medal at the Canadian Senate bestowed to her by the Honourable Senator Yvonne Boyer.

Click below for further opportunities to gain insight into Dr. Malhotra’s impacts:

A trailblazer recognized  and  Making change noticed

A leader in Consent: Dr. Malhotra led the creation of tools and standards

Making a difference in health care for Indigenous Women and Girls 

Co Leading making health care easier to navigate

Leading important work in Cancer Care, HPV and Screening

Dr. Malhotra is a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner and sits on the The Menopause Society’s Education Committee

Dr. Malhotra is one of the esteemed authors of the Canadian Menopause Guidelines