A doctor went ahead and sauntered (6)
I believe the answer is:
ambled
'sauntered' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'a doctor went ahead' is the wordplay.
'doctor' becomes 'mb' (Bachelor of Medicine, Medicinae Baccalaureus).
'went ahead' becomes 'led' (led the way).
'a'+'mb'+'led'='AMBLED'
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for ambled that I've seen before include "Wandered about aimlessly" , "Sauntered" , "Walked slowly - blamed for it" , "Walked casually" , "'Walked leisurely, moseyed (6)'" .)