Introduction Dyad learning occurs when two students work together to acquire new skills and knowledge. Several studies have provided evidence to support the educational rationale for dyad learning in the controlled simulated setting. However, the role of dyad learning in the clinical setting remains uncertain. Unlike the simulated setting, learning in the clinical setting depends on a complex interplay between medical students, doctors, nurses and patients potentially making dyad learning less valuable in clerkships. The objective of this study was to explore how key stakeholders perceive the value of implementing dyad learning during medical students’ clinical clerkships. Methods In a constructivist qualitative study, we conducted 51 semi‐structured interviews with 36 key stakeholders involved in dyad learning, including 10 medical students, 12 doctors, five nurses and nine patients. Data were coded inductively using thematic analysis, then coded deductively using stakeholder theory as a theoretical framework. Results We found that stakeholders generally perceived the educational impact of dyad learning in the clinical setting similarly but disagreed on its value. Students emphasised that dyad learning made them participate more actively during patient encounters and patients did not mind having two students present. Doctors and nurses considered dyad learning disruptive to the balance between service and training and reported that it did not resonate with their perception of good patient care. Conclusion Dyad learning enables students to be more active during their clinical clerkships, but it easily disrupts the balance between service and training. This disruption may be exacerbated by the shifted balance in priorities and values between different stakeholder groups, as well as by making implicit teaching obligations more explicit for supervising doctors and nurses. Consequently, implementing dyad learning may not be perceived as valuable by doctors and nurses in the clinical setting, regardless of its pedagogical rationale.

Introduction: During a health crisis, hospitals must prioritise activities and resources, which can compromise clerkship-based learning. We explored how health crises affect clinical clerkships using the COVID-19 pandemic as an example.Methods: In a constructivist qualitative study, we conducted 22 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders (i.e. medical students and doctors) from two teaching hospitals and 10 different departments. We used thematic analysis to investigate our data and used stakeholder theory as a sensitising concept.Results: We identified three themes: (1) emotional triggers and reactions; (2) negotiation of legitimacy; and (3) building resilience. Our results suggest that the health crisis accentuated already existing problems in clerkships, such as students' feelings of low legitimacy, constant negotiation of roles, inconsistencies navigating rules and regulations and low levels of active participation. Medical students and doctors adapted to the new organisational demands by developing increased resilience. Students responded by reaching out for guidance and acceptance to remain relevant in the clinical clerkships. Doctors developed a behaviour of closing in and focused on managing themselves and their patients. This created tension between these two stakeholder groups. Conclusion:A health crisis can critically disrupt the hierarchical structure within the clinical clerkships and exacerbate existing conflicts between stakeholder groups.When medical students are not perceived as legitimate stakeholders in clinical clerkships during a health crisis, their attendance is perceived as unnecessary or even a nuisance. Despite increased student proactiveness and resilience, their roles inevitably shift from being doctors-to-be to students-to-be-managed.

Although medical diagnosis is often established by teams of clinicians rather than by individuals, medical education is still structurally stuck in the 20th century's individualistic approach to learning and assessment. 1 Peer assisted learning (PAL), however, holds promises for changing the way students currently learn and perform within the clinical workspace by supporting collaborative learning strategies and decision making. 2