Director of the University of Otago’s Dental Hospital, Dr Janine Cochrane, says servicing up to 600 appointments in a single day comes down to meaningful teamwork where staff and students know their roles well.
With the University of Otago’s Dental Hospital and clinics servicing up to 600 appointments in a single day, there’s plenty to keep its Director Dr Janine Cochrane busy.
From operational meetings with kaimahi through to communication initiatives, strategising, problem-solving and clinical governance, Janine says her role largely exists to make sure the organisation is held accountable for continuously improving the quality of its services, managing costs and safeguarding the high-quality care it offers.
“The teams I work with, which includes academics and professional staff, are amazing and know their roles well,” Janine says.
“They are always looking to improve how things are done and have enabled me to enjoy the past two years in this role immensely.”
Prior to joining Otago, Janine spent her 30-year career in various healthcare leadership roles including working as a hospital manager in both the New Zealand public health system and the National Health Service in the United Kingdom.
Most recently she served as the General Manager for Surgery and Radiology at Te Whatu Ora’s Dunedin Hospital, but says she was glad to have made the move to Otago to pursue the path of healthcare professional education – an area she had experience in and passion for.
Janine says that being the centre for the teaching of oral health professions in Aotearoa, the role at the Dental Hospital has provided her with the opportunity to connect with and support people from many walks of life.
“A wide array of tauira studying to be an oral health professional or specialists get to practice and master their profession at our hospital and clinics in Dunedin and the facility in South Auckland, while members of the community can access more affordable healthcare services.
“The combination of the two is a meaningful marriage that truly betters the lives of people and it’s been fantastic being a part of academic and professional teams that want to enable students to succeed, while being economically efficient and continually improving what we do.
“Meaningful teamwork is definitely what inspires me, but I also have a huge whiteboard on my wall with a list of actions for this week, next week, next month, next year to encourage me along practically as well.”
Janine says that the faculty is in growth mode, with goals to get more students to study in the oral health professions, manage growing clinical teaching requirements, and develop or improve systems that will enable kaimahi and tauira to more efficiently deliver safe services and to better both their own and patient experiences.
As part of this initiative, the faculty has completed its first-ever Clinical Governance Yearbook 2024, which highlights the considerable body of work completed by staff last year as well as the initiatives for 2025 and beyond.
– Korero by the Division of Health Sciences Communications Adviser, Kelsey Swart