'They've all got to learn'. Medical students' learning from patients in ambulatory (outpatient and general practice) consultations.

Background: The dynamics of effective teaching consultations need to be better understood.

Aim: Find from medical students, patients and doctors how to optimize learning in ambulatory consultations.

Methods: Patients and students independently gave semi-structured exit interviews after 25 ambulatory teaching consultations during a clinical attachment set up experimentally to strengthen students' ambulatory learning.