How we put into practice the principles of embedding medical students into healthcare teams

To learn the practice of medicine, one must practice medicine. To maximize opportunities for practice, medical students are often embedded into functioning healthcare teams. At the National University of Singapore, students are distributed for clinical training at a variety of sites across the country. To enhance consistency of experience, the principles of embedding were clarified by a consensus-driven process and implemented according to local context. The principles are that embedding is safe for students and patients, independent thought, and commitment are required, students add value to the team, and that timely meaningful feedback is given. During the implementation phase, many lessons were distilled to further improve the process of student embedding.