INTRODUCTION: Over the last two years, medical courses in Brazil have begun implementing a compulsory internship in five basic areas of medicine, referred to as a clinical clerkship. Municipal and state health services are currently venues for these internships. This study aims to investigate the reality of such a clinical clerkship at the Medical School of the Federal University of Pernambuco from the point of view of its mentors. METHODOLOGY: This is a descriptive, qualitative, cross-sectional study in which we interviewed mentors from health services involved in the clinical clerkship. RESULTS: The themes most relevant to the study were: the mentor's expectations of the medical training during the rotation; the mentorship teaching models; education management; and teaching-service integration. CONCLUSIONS: Specific teaching-service integration initiatives may qualify placements in the health network, and these initiatives should address the topics related to the categories defined in this study. Other studies might address the perspectives of the student, teacher and manager, in an important step towards complementing the information obtained in this study.