Through an exploration of the interdependence between workplace affordances and individual engagement, this study addressed how medical students interact with clinical learning environments (CLEs). Building on the workplace participatory practices approach outlined by Billett, CLEs can be viewed as constructed through a negotiation of meaning between the workplace and the student. Inspired by ethnography, an observational study using field observations and follow-up interviews was performed. Workplace affordances included being given a marginal status in the healthcare team which students adapted to through striving to fit into the workplace. Further, there were many potential activities available to students; however, students seemed selective in terms of what activities they elected to engage in. As such, interacting with CLEs entailed students navigating complexity without the immediate access to any explicit 'map' of workplace learning. This study indicates that workplaces increasingly need to invite and include students in the practice of workplaces.