Rate My Professor Janine Cochrane

Dr Janine Cochrane is the Director of the Dental Hospital and Clinics at the University of Otago Faculty of Dentistry. With a 30-year career in healthcare leadership, she has worked as a hospital manager in New Zealand's public health system and the UK's National Health Service. Most recently, prior to joining the University of Otago two years ago, she served as General Manager for Surgery and Radiology at Te Whatu Ora’s Dunedin Hospital. She holds a Doctor of Professional Studies from Middlesex University, with her doctoral research titled "Exploring transformative engagement of managers, clinical staff and patients." In her current role, she oversees operations managing up to 600 appointments daily across Dunedin and South Auckland facilities, focusing on clinical governance, quality improvement, cost management, and high standards of patient care through effective teamwork and strategic planning.

Dr Cochrane's research interests encompass quality improvement, organisational change, health economic audit, and research. Her key publications include "The cost of diabetes-related hospital care to the Southern District Health Board in 2016/17" (2019), "Organisational lessons from systematisation: the experience of HealthCare Otago" (2018), and contributions to works on transformative engagement in healthcare. The Dental Hospital under her leadership serves a dual purpose: providing affordable services to the community while functioning as a primary teaching site for oral health professionals and specialists, supporting faculty growth in student intake and clinical education as detailed in the Clinical Governance Yearbook 2024. As sponsor of the SAFE-D initiative, she led efforts that earned the 2025 Vice-Chancellor's Health and Safety Initiative Award (Team) for enhancing clinical safety, infection control, and communication in dental clinics.