‘Virtual café’ sessions: Supporting medical sonography students learning anatomy online

Medical sonography students require a deep understanding of three-dimensional (3D) structural anatomy. In addition, they are required to identify anatomical structures from medical images. To enhance and support online anatomy learning of first year medical sonography students ‘virtual café’ sessions were designed and offered as weekly activities. They were facilitated by higher year level student peers, who provided contextualisation of anatomy learning, guided discussions about the sonography programme and generated social discussions to allow students to get to know one another. This study investigated the impact of virtual cafe sessions on the student’s experience, student learning, student satisfaction with their programme of study and future career. The results indicated scheduled peer facilitated informal student discussions afforded the opportunity for students to catch up, meet each other, talk, and learn in a non-intimidating and social manner, whilst nurturing support was offered. A culture of positive contextualised, and authentic learning was developed which improved student engagement and enthusiasm for their programme of study. Most importantly, virtual café sessions facilitated students building social connections and trust with each other, so they subsequently felt less isolated and overwhelmed, but rather gained a sense of belonging, which motivated their learning.