University students across the globe have been suffering through a common struggle - how to continue lessons in the safest way possible. And for practical studies, like those studying medicine, this has been particularly difficult.

But a group of students in southwest England have been given a unique way to get around this problem - using virtual reality headsets. The students are trainee medics who are learning how to explain diagnoses and treatment plans in a virtual intensive care ward.

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The simulation was designed by the British start-up Virti, which also used VR to help train health care workers on how to use PPE during the start of the pandemic.

Richard Bamford, a surgeon at Musgrove Hospital in Taunton where the training took place, told AFP: "The advantage of the virtual reality is they get to see the whole picture. 

"They're not confined to one area, it's reproducible, it's reliable, and it's based on a real-world setting. It gives them a really good opportunity to train, particularly in times when training has been affected recently by a number of different reasons, COVID-19 being one of them."

Video editor: Terry Wilson.