Abstract Background and objectives Interruptions during clinical activities are strongly associated with patient safety incidents in healthcare settings. Attempts have been made to teach medical students and doctors how to best manage interruptions, however evidence suggests that most doctors develop these skills through experience and that students feel ill-prepared when confronted with interruptions in the clinical setting. This study protocol presents a study that aims to inform, the development of an educational tool for undergraduate medical students on management on interruption management in the clinical setting. Informed by the ADDIE model of instructional design, a learning needs analysis will be conducted to determine what skills are needed to best manage workplace interruptions and how these skills would best be taught at an undergraduate level. Methods and Analysis This study will collect data through semi-structured interviews with medical students, medical educators and junior doctors. The interview protocol has been developed using the Critical Incidence Technique, in which real-life experiences will be used as a basis for reflection to determine what underlying lessons can be learnt from them. The interviews will be transcribed verbatim and undergo thematic analysis to determine what instructional goals need to be set for an educational tool and how such a tool should be designed. Ethics and Dissemination This study has received full ethical approval from Cardiff University (SREC reference 23/67). Findings from the study will be disseminated by presentation at national and international conferences and publication through academic papers

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This study did not receive any funding

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

The Ethics Committee of Cardiff University's School of Medicine gave ethical approval for this work (Reference for approval - SREC 23/67)

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I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

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I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

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There was no data used for this manuscript as it is a study protocol. The Ethics Committee gave approval for the proposed study to go ahead.