CDR Monica Lutgendorf, MD grew up in Ridgecrest, California, and attended the University of Southern California on a Naval ROTC scholarship.  She served as Battalion Commander, and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry in 2000.  CDR Lutgendorf was selected to attend medical school upon commissioning, and earned her Medical Doctorate in 2004 from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD.  

CDR Lutgendorf completed internship and residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, in 2008, serving as an OB/GYN staff physician at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth until 2011. CDR Lutgendorf completed her subspecialty fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, WA in 2014.   

In 2014 CDR Lutgendorf was stationed at Naval Medical Center San Diego, where she is the Division Director for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.  She is currently the Associate Residency Program Director and is an Associate Professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.  CDR Lutgendorf is the chair of the Defense Health Agency’s Women and Infants Clinical Community.  She is committed to clinical standardization, provider support, medical simulation, and empowerment for women in healthcare.