Jennifer M. Orozco, DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA is the Chief Medical Officer at the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA). She joined AAPA in July 2023 after serving two years as president and chair of the AAPA’s Board of Directors. Dr. Orozco has served as a volunteer leader, patient advocate, and change agent of the PA profession for more than 2o+ years and has held multiple leadership positions at both the state and national levels. Dr. Orozco is a strong advocate for health equity and improving patient care access through the advancement of the PA profession and a champion of advocacy efforts on both the state and federal levels. She is an accomplished speaker, published author, and Op-Ed scholar.

Prior to joining AAPA, she held a brief role as Principal for Health Management Associates, a research and consulting firm, in which she served as a subject matter expert to help optimize healthcare systems. However, much of Dr. Orozco’s professional career had been dedicated to the clinical and academic leadership teams at Rush University System for Health in Chicago, Illinois. In that role, she was the director of more than 400 PAs and APRNs across the hospital system, and built strategic operations from the ground up, all while continuing to practice vascular surgery. In addition, Dr. Orozco is a founding member of Rush University’s PA faculty and is currently an assistant professor in the Department of PA Studies.

Orozco earned a Bachelor of Science in exercise physiology from University of Illinois at Chicago, a Master of Medical Science in PA Studies from Midwestern University, and a Doctor of Medical Science (DMSc) from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. When not working to advance the profession on behalf of patients, Orozco spends most of her free time outdoors cycling and traveling with her partner Kevin and her three children, Maddux, Matias, and Belicia, in Fox River Grove, Illinois.