Rate My Professor John McMillan

Professor John McMillan holds the position of Professor in the Department of Bioethics within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Otago, where he also directs the Bioethics Centre, a role he assumed in February 2013. A graduate of the University of Otago, he obtained his BA (Hons) and PhD from the institution. Prior to his return to Otago, McMillan served as Associate Professor at Flinders Medical School in Adelaide, Australia. His academic career is rooted in philosophy and ethics, with a focus on applying these disciplines to healthcare and medicine.

McMillan's research specializations encompass the methods of bioethics, healthcare prioritisation, reproductive ethics, the philosophy and ethics of mental health, research ethics, and public health ethics. He has published extensively in these areas, contributing to key works such as Principles of Healthcare Ethics (co-edited with Richard Ashcroft, Angus Dawson, and Heather Draper, 2007) and The Methods of Bioethics: An Essay in Metabioethics (Oxford University Press, 2018). His scholarship has achieved substantial impact, with over 3,347 citations documented on Google Scholar. Notable recent contributions include the editorial 'Being ethical in difficult times' in the Journal of Medical Ethics (2024) and 'Future of good medical ethics' (2025), alongside book chapters like 'Re-appraising Psychopathy' (2022) and 'Memory, Identity, and Dementia' (2025). McMillan received the Excellence in Research Support award in the Dunedin School of Medicine Departmental Awards in 2019. He has also held public service roles, including a three-year appointment to New Zealand's Advisory Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ACART) commencing in April 2016. Through his leadership, publications, and engagements, McMillan shapes ethical frameworks for medical practice, policy, and research in New Zealand and internationally.