Noninvasive malaria detection beyond blood sampling.

Early detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD) is well established as a critical factor in reducing morbidity and mortality, and in improving long-term survival and quality of life (). Despite this, challenges in the early diagnosis of OPMDs and OSCC continue to arise due to patient, professional, referral and scheduling delays (, ). While there has been an improvement in patients seeking advice from primary health care professionals, the interval time for health professionals making a diagnosis has not significantly improved (, ). Current data indicates that approximately 53% of patients with OSCC initially present to their medical general practitioner (GP), 42% to their general dental practitioner (GDP), and 5% directly to a dental or medical specialist. These patterns highlight the critical need for both medical and dental professionals to be competent in identifying high-risk oral mucosal cases and facilitating prompt referral to an appropriate specialist (, ). Globally, a significant proportion of diagnostic delays has been attributed to professional knowledge of oral cancer, with many studies around the world underscoring the importance of strengthening practitioner knowledge to improve early detection and diagnosis of oral cancer and overall patient care (–). In Australia, Idrees et al. reported on the lack of adequate knowledge in identifying OPMDs amongst dental health professionals and dental students, noting an overall accuracy rate of 65.9% in the identification of oral mucosal lesions (). In a Brazilian study, 64.6% and 51.4% of participating dentists and dental students, respectively, did not feel able to identify oral cancer (). Furthermore, 52.7% of dental students and 67.1% of dentists from the same study did not believe that they received appropriate or any training during their dental education, including palpation of lymph nodes and identification of lymphadenopathies associated with oral cancer (). Brailo et al. evaluated six university-based oral medicine units in Europe and identified an urgent need to increase clinical exposure of dental students to OPMDs to increase student confidence in OPMD detection and management (). These findings were similarly replicated amongst medical students in the United Kingdom, whereby 95% of graduating medical students believed they were poorly informed on oral cancer (). Further, a systematic review involving 3409 GPs demonstrated limited knowledge on emerging oral cancer risk factors and reported a range of 38%–94% of GPs feeling unsure about diagnosing oral cancer (). Collectively, these findings underline the need to examine how clinicians are currently trained on oral cancer. Traditionally, dental and medical curricula integrate didactic (online and face-to-face teaching), laboratory, and clinical skill development to foster clinical competence in the graduating student. However, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of the mode of delivery specifically in the context of oral cancer education. There is also a growing body of evidence demonstrating the benefits of immersive virtual reality (IVR) and artificial intelligence in health education, such as increased engagement and personalising learning suggestions based on learners' learning status, preferences, and individual attributes (, ). However, these technologies have not been fully evaluated within the context of oral cancer education.