long commutes for evening and weekend classes , including earning her diploma in professional nursing and bachelor ’ s , master ’ s , and doctoral degrees from West Virginia University .
Today , Cochran is an associate professor at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine and a family nurse practitioner at Pocohontas Memorial Hospital in Buckeye , WV . She feels privileged to be part of this institution now educating and guiding students on their journey to becoming osteopathic physicians . In addition to being engaged in her traditional profession and meeting required standards , being a faculty member is challenging . She works with other faculty to build curriculum , teach classes and support research with students and other faculty .
All of the faculty and staff at WVSOM work to ensure students pass all aspects of their boards and receive a clinical and scientific education that can take them wherever they want to practice medicine . Cochran has found success in mentoring
the whole student , which includes addressing personal struggles as well .
“ Students are often homesick and disillusioned by the amount of work it takes to get to the end of the semester or even the end of the program ,” Cochran says . “ Oftentimes this can be as simple as a coaching session that lets the student know that they have resources to help within the school . Sometimes a person needs validation that what they are experiencing is difficult but that they have what it takes to keep going .”
Watching people pull themselves up by their bootstraps motivates her . Cochran believes people are the product of their environment but also that they all seek to better that environment as their lives progress , making them who they are in the present .
“ I consider myself a blend of all the people I have had in my life , including my hardworking parents and the physicians and nurses who were brilliant in knowledge and caring ,” Cochran says . “ I consider that the best gift ever .” •
Baby Bliss
Jill Cochran , Ph . D ., APRN , associate professor at West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine and family nurse practitioner at Pocahontas Memorial Hospital , is passionate about helping infant and child patients . Early in her career , she noticed the need to help parents , grandparents and foster parents soothe fussy infants . After conducting research and seeking out best practices , she discovered the Happiest Baby on the Block Company . She contacted the pediatrician who created the methods and program , Dr . Harvey Karp , and asked for outpatient studies on his method . Karp was happy to hear about Cochran ’ s work and donated information , books and infant swaddles to start her on a new endeavor .
She worked with a clinical team compiling complaints from infant caregivers whose infants were fussy and developed a 10-question tool to provide information for the research . Eventually , Baby Bliss , an app used to log the fussy characteristics of infants , was launched as a trial usability pilot project , and it is currently being refined and validated . Caregivers are provided a link to the site and log infant behaviors up to three months .
Cochran also worked on a tele-soothe program , which taught caregivers how to soothe and swaddle babies via a simulator during the COVID-19 pandemic . The Happiest Baby on the Block Company has supported Cochran to pilot an infant Snoo , which is a smart sleeping device . During the COVID-19 pandemic , the telehealth visits that supported isolated infant mothers allowed her to gain valuable insight , which furthered her success and funding sources for Baby Bliss .
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