Dr. Mary Ann Orzech helps healthcare professionals, executives and organizations increase patient safety, avoid malpractice suits and increase compliance by developing leaders and teams that lead a safety, quality and wellness culture.

Dr. Orzech started her career in the Air Force, completing 28 years of service that included 8 years of flying in the backseat of an F-16 as a flight surgeon. Aviation safety is of paramount importance to the military flying community, and many of those same principles of aviation safety have been adopted by the medical community to help diagnose and prevent healthcare system safety issues. Today, Dr. Orzech applies her Flight Leadership Model to top healthcare organizations to help them build a medical safety culture that allows each organization a safe landing, while supporting the health of its patients.

In her career with the US Air Force, Dr. Orzech served as a Flight Surgeon, an Aerospace Medicine Specialist and the Commander of the Aerospace Medicine Squadron.  She is board certified in Aerospace Medicine and Occupational Medicine. Dr. Orzech is also a lecturer at the University of New Mexico in healthcare management and was invited to speak at the American Association for Physician Leadership’s annual meeting in 2014. Additionally, Dr. Orzech serves as a state examiner for the annual Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award, which recognizes companies who have implemented successful quality management systems.

In her spare time, Dr. Orzech is an avid golfer and enjoys playing eighteen holes at her local country club in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Throughout her career, Dr. Orzech has seen how changes in the medical field have increased the importance of collaboration and team-based, patient-centered care. She thrives on working with physicians and other healthcare leaders to develop the leadership skills they need to excel in this healthcare environment and flourish in these new roles.