Dr. Van Orman has spent her professional career as a college health physician, university health services administrator, and campus chief health officer. She is currently the Vice President for Campus Health, Executive Director of Employee Health Plans and Chief Health Officer of the University of Southern California where she is also a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine in Keck School of Medicine.  Dr. Van Orman is a past President of the American College Health Association (ACHA) where she currently chairs the Data and Research Strategy Committee. Her administrative interests include health equity in student populations and its connection to student educational outcomes, using public health models to improve student well-being, and insurance. She is the 2020 recipient of the ACHA Edward Hitchcock award for Outstanding Contributions in College Health and the 2025 ACHA Lifetime Achievement Award.

She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on college health and a frequent media commentator on campus health. She earned an undergraduate degree in physics from Carleton College (MN) and her MD degree from the Mayo Clinic (MN).

Residency training was at the University of Chicago in combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. She is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics and earned a Master of Medical Management (MMM) degree from Carnegie Mellon University. She is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College Health Association.