Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva hur nyutexaminerade tandläkare vid tandläkarprogrammet i Malmö ser på sin ledarskapsroll som tandläkare och den ledarskapsutbildning som gavs under grundutbildningen. Material och metod: Åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med tandläkare som tagit examen från tandläkarprogrammet i Malmö år 2015 och 2016. Intervjuerna spelades in och transkriberades. Därefter analyserades intervjuerna och olika teman konstruerades. Resultat: Samtliga tandläkare i studien uppgav att de såg sig själva som ledare för tandvårdsteamet. Flera tandläkare menade att de hade stött på problem i rollen som ledare, framför allt när det kom till kommunikation med övriga teammedlemmar och kunskap om teammedlemmarnas respektive kompetenser. Majoriteten menade att den formella ledarskapsutbildningen under grundutbildningen var bristfällig. Flera menade att de hade utvecklat sitt ledarskap genom andra moment, till exempel genom grupparbeten under utbildningen eller genom “learning by doing” på arbetsplatsen. Konklusion: Denna studie har visat att samtliga tandläkare såg sig själva som ledare för tandvårdsteamet, men att de också har erfarit svårigheter i denna roll. Andra moment än den formella ledarskapsutbildningen på tandläkarprogrammet i Malmö har bidragit till tandläkarnas utveckling av ledarskap. Enligt tandläkarna skulle ledarskapsutbildningen kunna förbättras genom mer formell ledarskapsutbildning under flera terminer samt ökad utbildning i kommunikation och teamtandvård.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe how recently graduated dentists from the Programme in Dentistry at Malmö University perceived their role as dental team leaders and the leadership education given at the Programme in Dentistry in Malmö. Methods: Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with dentists who had graduated from Malmö University in 2015 and 2016. Each interview was taped and transcribed. The transcripts were analysed and different themes were then constructed. Results: The dentists stated that they perceived themselves as leaders of the dental team. Some meant that they had encountered problems in the leadership role. They explained that communication within the team could be hard and that they had a lack of knowledge regarding the different competences within the dental team. The majority of the dentists meant that the formal leadership education at the dental programme was inadequate. Some explained that they had developed leadership skills through other ways than formal leadership education, as for example by working in study groups during the dental programme or by ”learning by doing” at the current workplace. Conclusion: All of the dentists perceived themselves to be leaders of the dental team. Most of them had encountered difficulties in the leadership role. Other elements than the formal leadership education had contributed to their development of leadership skills. According to the dentists the leadership education could be improved by an increased amount of formal leadership education during several semesters and by more education in communication and team dentistry.