Turner, Astrid ChrisildaLubbe, J.C. (Irene)Ross, W.2022-01-252022-01-252021-09Turner, A., Lubbe, I. & Ross, W. 2021, 'A ray of sunshine in the COVID-19 environment, with a virtual sunburst elective', African Journal of Health Professions Education, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 189-190.2078-5127 (online)10.7196/AJHPE.2021.v13i3.1509http://hdl.handle.net/2263/83454Traditionally there has always been a one-month elective opportunity for third-year medical students at the Univesity of Pretoria, South Africa. In pre-pandemic years, students have used this elective to explore a future area of specialisation and/or gain practical experience at a self-selected suitable health facility or placement. The completion mark for the elective was based on the submission of a student-generated reflective report about their experience. This practice was, however, severely challenged in the prevailing COVID‑19 pandemic with movement restrictions and concerns about transmission. Therefore, a decision was made and supported by the Deanery to explore the possibility of a virtual self-paced online elective for 300 medical students. Of note here is that not only were these students adjusting to lecture-led online-synchronised classes, but they also had never before been exposed to online learning in the form of massive open online courses (MOOCs) as part of their formal qualification.en© 2021 Health and Medical Publishing Group. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license.Medical studentsPractical experienceCOVID‑19 pandemicUniversity of Pretoria (UP)Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Massive open online courses (MOOCs)Article