Background We describe efforts at one tertiary university teaching hospital to rapidly recruit, train and deploy medical students into paid clinical support worker roles during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods Recruitment was conducted by means of a single email outlining the emergent clinical situation and specifying role descriptions, terms and conditions, and temporary staff enrolment paperwork. Applicants could begin work provided they were in good standing and received departmental orientation. Student representatives liaised with teaching faculty and participating departments. Roles were modified in response to student and departmental feedback.

Results Between 25 December 2020 and 9 March 2021, 189 students contributed 1335 shifts, providing 10 651 hours of clinical care in total. The median number of shifts worked per student was 6 (mean: 7; range: 1–35). Departmental leaders attested that the student workers eased the burden on hospital nursing teams.

Conclusion Medical students contributed usefully and safely to the provision of healthcare within well-defined and supervised clinical support worker roles. We propose a model of working which could be adapted in the event of future pandemics or major incidents. The pedagogical value to medical students of working in clinical support roles warrants closer evaluation.