Student Spotlight: Gema Ortiz

Earlier this year, we celebrated the March 2026 FMCA Community Impact Scholarship recipients. These individuals are committed to transforming the health of their communities through functional medicine health coaching. Thanks to the partnership between the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy, the Institute for Functional Medicine, and generous support from VoLo Foundation, these scholarships provide full tuition for our Health Coach Certification Program.

Today, we’re proud to introduce Gema Ortiz, a community advocate whose journey to functional medicine began with her own health crisis. After being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at age 32 following generations of metabolic disease in her family, Gema discovered functional medicine while searching for answers beyond symptom management. By addressing root causes, she was able to reverse her diagnosis in just three months, igniting a passion to help others do the same.

“Unfortunately, hormone imbalances are in very high numbers in our communities, and so I just feel that it’s part of my purpose to give back and to bring awareness and education on all of this.”

Gema Ortiz, FMCA Community Impact Scholarship Recipient

With her FMCA training, Gema hopes to bring functional medicine education to women of color and Spanish-speaking communities, where chronic conditions, hormone imbalances, and limited access to healthcare are common. She envisions offering culturally accessible education in Spanish, partnering with nonprofits and advocacy organizations, and empowering women to understand their bodies and take ownership of their health. For Gema, this scholarship represents a ripple effect, creating lasting change for her family, her community, and generations to come.

Watch the Interview

Watch Gema’s Student Spotlight interview with Dr. Sandi here.

Transcript

Dr. Sandi: I am here with Gema Ortiz, and she is one of our scholarship recipients for the class starting March of 2026. So, thank you for being here, and congratulations on being a scholarship recipient. And I would love to hear, what led you to FMCA, and what would you like to do with your training when you graduate in about a little over a year?

Gema: Yes, thank you so much for the opportunity to be here. I’m really grateful to have this opportunity. And so I have a few reasons why I was led to this opportunity. Unfortunately, my mom has had diabetes for over 20 years. She’s had complications from that as well, and it’s just one of those things that runs in my family. So I’ve seen it, you know, three out of my grandparents had complications with diabetes, and so it’s just something that’s come up. There’s also a history of high blood pressure, cholesterol, just metabolic issues, and so that’s also something that I started to experience just at the age of 32. So about in 2023, it’s when I was, you know, diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and so that’s really when, like, my journey began. Unfortunately, when I was way younger, I feel like I didn’t fully understand what this meant for, like, my parents and my grandparents until it really hit me. And so those are some of the reasons.

You know, I’ve had my own journey healing this and reversing this. You know, gratefully, I was able to do so in three months, but it’s something that I’ve been passionate about ever since and really diving into, like, the root cause of chronic illnesses like this and really gapping the gap that it’s in between, right? I feel like my experiences of the doctors have been very just, like, symptom management, and that’s the same thing that I’ve seen with my mom. And nothing really getting better, nothing reversing, nothing really healing. And so, unfortunately, just with the years, getting worse, and so I didn’t want that to be my story. I didn’t want that to be my case. And so I started doing my own research, learning more, came across functional medicine, and the dots started connecting for me, being, like, “I think I get it, you know. Like, this is something.”

And so I started to just, on my own, you know, practice some of those things, and I started to see results. And so, for me, it’s something that I feel called to do to learn more and, you know, be more of a credible resource for our communities. You know, unfortunately, hormone imbalances, all of these things are something that are very high numbers in our communities, and so I just feel that it’s, you know, part of my purpose to give back and to bring awareness and education on all of this. So, thank you for allowing me to be here.

Dr. Sandi: What a story and something that we hear so frequently amongst our students. They come to us because they themselves have a health crisis, a chronic condition, and did not feel like they were getting the right answers or the right approach from their medical providers. They found functional medicine and then, by extension, found coaching. And when you said this is your calling, I had chills, because yes, I can see how many lives you are going to impact for the better because you found us. There are thousands of people that may not know it yet, but they will live better, longer lives because of what you are choosing to do.

Gema: Thank you so much. And you know, thank you for the opportunity. I really wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for this scholarship either. So it really is making my vision, you know, to get to those people, to get to those communities a lot easier. It’s something that I’ve kind of been contemplating and doing my research. And this specific program was on my list of applying things like this. And as I was doing my research, I came across this scholarship, and I was like, “My goodness, this is, like, in perfect alignment for me.” And so I do want to use this experience and these skills that I will be gaining through this certification to help our communities bring a lot of this awareness in Spanish. I feel like, again, a lot of people in the Latino community are not knowledgeable about functional medicine. I feel like it’s something…I mean, including myself, right, like, I didn’t know about functional medicine before. So there is that lack of awareness and education.

So that’s something that I hope to bring and making it accessible for them as well, right, and saying like, “Hey, here are changes that we can make now so that we can have a long-lasting, healthy life. You know, we don’t have to suffer through these conditions, and you know, we do have resources to make changes that will allow us to live a sustainable life.” So something that is also gradual, right? But I do have so many just, like, creative visions, and I feel that, as I listen to your podcast, I listen to it as well, it gives me so many ideas to even, like, continue to give back. I feel like I need to slow down because I’m not there yet. I’m just so eager to get to that part. But I can’t skip it. I just have to go through the process, learn, immerse myself, go through the whole year program. And then, when the time comes, I truly trust that I will have the necessary skills to be, again, that credible and reliable person in the community to work with, you know, other non-profits, bring it in Spanish.

I am bilingual in Spanish. And so I would love to start with that and then, you know, work with other language justice organizations that can either do interpretation workshops with me live so that we can, you know, interpret in other languages so that the information can get out there. I feel like it just needs to spread.

Dr. Sandi: Yes, absolutely. So tell me more about the community that you hope to serve.

Gema: Yeah. So currently, I work with mostly women of color. I am a program manager for advocacy and leadership skills in a non-profit, and we really focus with women to advocate along low wages. You know, a lot of these women are immigrants here in the United States. Some of them are entrepreneurs, and a lot of them are going through their own health challenges themselves. And some of them are already even going through, like, menopause, perimenopause, not understanding what’s going on, and then going to the doctor and just being, like, “Well, it’s just part of getting old, you know.” That’s literally what the answer they get. And the interesting thing is that they all get the same answer, and they’ll go to different doctors, but they’re all somehow getting the same, just like, “Oh, you just kind of have to deal with it, right? It’s just a part of aging.”

And so they also advocate around, you know, health care issues and accessibility, just making sure that they have access to resources, to health care, to education, to things like that. And so we do a lot of advocacy civic engagement work, and so this is something that I really, really am excited to bring to them and share with them and, you know, also bring it into, you know, ways that we can continue to advocate for healthcare access for everyone, right, not just women. Everyone should have access to this. But I specifically work with mainly women, older women of color.

Dr. Sandi: Well, we are so excited to have you as part of our community, and I know that you are going to make a huge difference in the lives of these women, everyone that you encounter. I love hearing your vision, your mission. I was in tears when I read your application, and you really, really stood out. And it was a really tough choice. We had 700 applicants for these slots, and each one had a great story and was worthy. So we will welcome you, and I’m here to serve you as we start the program. I have office hours, and you will receive so much support. So stay tuned for the training. And again, I want to welcome you and congratulate you on being a scholarship recipient.

Gema: Oh, thank you so much. And I was in tears, too, when I heard the news. And even last night, before going to bed, I was just thinking of having this opportunity to speak with you today, and I also just was immersed in tears of just gratitude for this opportunity. It truly feels like a blessing for me, for my family, for my lineage, for our community. And so, you know, it’s just beautiful the way that this works, right? Yeah, I feel like I’m being impacted and being gifted this so that then it can be reciprocal, right? It’s ripple effects that are going to continue, and we’re going to be able to share this, you know, type of information that is life-changing. And I’m really excited, and I’m really grateful to be here. So, thank you for your time. Thank you for offering these types of opportunities. So, yeah, I’m really grateful. Thank you.

Dr. Sandi: Thank you. Thank you. To be continued.

Gema: Yes, to be continued.

Dr. Sandi: Yes.

Gema: I’m so excited.

Dr. Sandi: Thank you. Bye now.

Gema: Bye-bye.