Dr. Cheryl T. Bloom received her Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State University in 1966 and completed a hospital internship in 1967.

She became a member of the Astronaut Medical Team at the Johnson Space Center in Houston until 1976. She received a Masters of Arts degree in Pathology from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 1974 and worked as a research associate in endocrinology at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. She received her Doctor of Optometry degree from the University of Houston College of Optometry in 1983.