The case of the vanishing medical student

Medical students are often hard to find on the wards after 3.00pm. In this reflective piece, using our own experiences of clinical teaching we describe the case of an archetypal, and stereotypical medical student who rarely attends a full day of timetabled clinical teaching. Using this case as an example we outline our insights of the reasons underpinning the fact many medical students leave clinical teaching placements well before 5.00pm and in doing so miss out of learning opportunities. We also make two simple recommendations to medical students and teachers that could be employed to incentivise students to linger longer on their clinical placements.