Kommuneoverlegerollen før, under og etter pandemien - en kvalitativ studie

This doctoral project aims to provide increased knowledge about the role of the municipal chief physician and how the organizational context affects the perception and performance of the role. All municipalities are required by law to have a municipal chief physician, but there is great variation in how the role is designed and where this function is located in the organization. The municipal chief physicians were important in handling the covid-19 pandemic, but the municipal chief physician is responsible for more tasks than infection control. In a future with major challenges in the health and care sector and an increased risk of crises and emergency situations, the municipal chief physician's community medicine expertise will be an important resource for municipal management. In this project, we will explore the municipal chief physicians' own experiences and lessons learned from the role both before, during and after the pandemic. We will use a qualitative approach and will collect data through both individual interviews and focus group interviews with various municipal chief physicians. The project aims to explore three main questions: 1. What experiences and lessons do the municipal chief physicians have from managing local infection control work during the covid-19 pandemic? 2. How have municipal chief physicians experienced their role both before, during and after the pandemic, and how do they experience that organizational factors affect the performance of the role? 3. What factors were of importance to municipal chief physicians who left their positions during the pandemic, and what factors were of importance to those who remained? The knowledge from this doctoral project will contribute to an increased understanding of the role of the municipal chief physician, and facilitate appropriate organization and use of this role locally. With such knowledge, municipalities will be able to strengthen their own community medicine resources and thus also the health professional leadership.