Gemma Holland

Earth and Climate Sciences & Chemistry

My name is Gemma Holland, and I am from Buford, Georgia. Over the years, my interest and desire to pursue medicine have continued to grow, and it pushed me to join the Cardea Fellows Program to be surrounded by others who share the same aspirations to become a health professional. I’m majoring in Earth and Climate Sciences due to my interest in how the environment and geological materials affect health. After freshman year, I was in Ghana for my DukeEngage. I spent time educating local mechanics about the harmful effects of used motor oil, which contains heavy metals, on their health and the environment. This experience encouraged me to pursue an environmentally-based major and formulated my understanding of the impacts of human interactions with the environment on health. At Duke, I am involved with Duke Habitat for Humanity and a tutor for Teach for America. Volunteering has reinforced my values of helping and benefiting others in any way I can. A considerable factor pushing me to become a health professional is the lack of women and people of color professionals; thus, leading to many misdiagnoses of underrepresented patients. Since this is a factor usually disregarded by some physicians, I hope to make a difference by informing other health professionals to be more culturally aware and understand diseases that impact people of color at higher rates. As a physician, I want to give patients of diverse backgrounds the care they are failing to receive.