Rate My Professor Jacqui Plater

Jacqui Plater is a PhD candidate and clinical educator in the School of Physiotherapy within the Division of Health Sciences at the University of Otago. She earned her BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy from Manchester University in 1997, followed by a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education in 2015 and a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education in 2017, both from the University of Otago. Her doctoral research, conducted via distance learning through the Centre for Health, Activity, and Rehabilitation Research (CHARR), focuses on 'Evaluating the delivery of evidence-based physiotherapy practice in a changing healthcare environment,' with an emphasis on physiotherapy service evaluation. She is supervised by Professor Dave Baxter from the School of Physiotherapy, Associate Professor Lincoln Wood from the Department of Management, and adviser Janice Mueller from Waipiata Consulting.

With over 20 years of clinical experience across inpatient settings and various specialties in the United Kingdom and Aotearoa New Zealand, Plater holds the position of Physiotherapy Professional Lead at Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand, Te Matau a Māui Hawke's Bay, while serving as a clinical educator for University of Otago physiotherapy students in the Hawkes Bay region. Her research interests center on implementing evidence-based practices in evolving healthcare systems. In December 2024, she was the primary author of the article 'Development of evidence-based standards for inpatient physiotherapy services: a systematic review and content analysis of clinical practice guidelines,' published in BMJ Open. This study reviewed 32 clinical practice guidelines from scholarly databases and grey literature sources between July and September 2021, applying AGREE II quality assessments and synthesizing recommendations into 27 summative statements with confidence ratings. The work addresses the lack of national standards for inpatient physiotherapy in New Zealand, noting gaps in dosage specifications and calling for further research. Plater is affiliated with Physiotherapy New Zealand, Hawkes Bay Branch, and contributes to both clinical leadership and academic teaching.