District Medical Officers' perception of their own role

All Norwegian municipalities have a statutory duty to employ a District Medical Officer as their medical advisor, but they are free to decide where this role should be placed in the municipal hierarchy. The position's contracted working hours, seniority and job content vary between municipalities. We conducted a survey to increase our understanding of how District Medical Officers see their own role.

Data were collected by conducting focus group interviews with fifteen District Medical Officers from various municipalities and counties. The data were subjected to thematic qualitative analysis involving systematic text condensation.

All the District Medical Officers had advisory roles and many reported limited access to formal decision-making arenas. They typically saw their role as poorly defined and felt a sense of invisibility, but this perception was combined with considerable autonomy. Most of the District Medical Officers reported that they felt caught between demands for advice at two different levels: clinical advice relating to individual cases and general public health advice to local authorities. This sense of being squeezed was more pronounced among District Medical Officers in large municipalities than in small municipalities. Organisational contexts and managerial expectations played a part in creating greater demand for clinical advice. This curbed the development of a public health identity and role.

District Medical Officers have a hybrid role as multi-level advisors, and this requires them to adopt several identities. In order to bolster the public health aspect, their role must be made clearer by introducing appropriate expectations and organisational contexts within the municipality.