Prior to her appointment, she spent 28 years in the U.S. Navy. Prior to joining the VA, Captain Pearlman served as assistant Chief of Staff at Navy Medicine West. A graduate of D'Youville College in Buffalo, New York, she was commissioned in the Nurse Corps in 1982, upon completion of Officers Indoctrination School in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1995, she received a master's of science degree from Hampton University, with a major in community health nursing and a focus on nursing education. She was deployed with Fleet Hospital 8 to Rota, Spain, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where she was the Director of Nursing Services for the 250 bed hospital. In 2004 she was selected to be the Executive Officer, Naval Hospital, Naples. In 2006 she became the Commanding Officer of U. S. Naval Hospital Sigonella, Italy.