Eastern ruler last month placed in clinic (6)

I believe the answer is:

sultan

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'eastern ruler' is the definition.

'last month placed in clinic' is the wordplay.
'last month' becomes 'ult' (I've seen this before).
'placed in' indicates putting letters inside (I've seen this in other clues).
'clinic' becomes 'san' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'ult' inserted within 'san' is 'SULTAN'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for sultan that I've seen before include "Ottoman emperor" , "Turkish ruler" , "One governs" , "Sovereign of a Muslim state" , "Ottoman sovereign" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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