Alma is a doctor, with a specialist degree and a PhD in anaesthesia and intensive care. She also has a specialist degree in health care administration and a masters degree in public health and administration. Further, she has a diploma degree in public administration. Alma has been clinically active until she took on the current office as the Director of Health in 2018, the first woman in then its 258 years history. She has previously worked at the University Hospital in Lund Sweden and as a chief of both Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at the Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavík.