She attended the University of Washington, Seattle for premed courses and then earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Chemistry at the University of Mary Bismarck, North Dakota in 1995. Cynthia furthered her medical training by completing the Physician Assistant Program at the University of Osteopathic Medicine Des Moines, Iowa in 1998 — and was certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistant in 1999. From 2000 through 2006, she served in the United Sates Army Reserve in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a First Lieutenant PA-C.