Oral cancer teaching of medical students in the UK: time for a new approach?

Many patients with oral lesions present to general medical practitioners (GMPs). GMPs are also more likely to see patients with higher oral cancer risk. Therefore, GMPs play an important role in the early detection and prevention of oral cancer but is this reflected in undergraduate medical teaching. A questionnaire regarding oral cancer teaching was delivered to the curriculum directors of all UK medical schools. A response rate of 66% was achieved. There was wide variation in teaching time, teaching methods employed, and specialties involved. Sixty percent of schools provided clinical examination of patients with oral lesions. Up to 55% of medical schools included oral cancer in student assessment. There is wide variation in oral cancer teaching in UK medical schools. There is a need to develop a curriculum that addresses the important aspects of oral cancer from an evidence-based consensus approach.