Introducing saliva as an analytical sample in higher education through an interdisciplinary blended-learning programme

Saliva is an emerging analytical sample increasingly supported by scientific evidence as a viable alternative or complement to serum or plasma in both human and veterinary medicine. Despite its demonstrated potential, its inclusion in higher education curricula within human and animal sciences remains limited. To address this gap, an international blended university course was developed to introduce saliva as an analytical sample within a One Health framework.

The programme targeted university teachers and postgraduate students from different disciplines and combined online theoretical sessions with hands-on saliva collection, exposure to laboratory analytical workflows, and interpretation of real analytical data. The educational intervention was evaluated through participant satisfaction surveys conducted immediately after the course and a one-year follow-up questionnaire assessing its educational and professional impact. Participants reported high satisfaction with both the theoretical and practical components of the programme and identified the hands-on activities and interdisciplinary learning environment among its greatest strengths.

One year after course completion, many participants had incorporated the acquired knowledge into their teaching, initiated or planned research related to saliva science, and established new interdisciplinary collaborations. These findings suggest that interdisciplinary blended-learning programmes can facilitate the progressive integration of emerging fields such as saliva analysis into higher education curricula while promoting long-term educational impact, curriculum innovation, and collaboration across human and veterinary health disciplines. The authors gratefully acknowledge the participants, the international offices of the involved universities, and all individuals whose efforts supported the successful implementation of the course.The course was funded by ERASMUS+ through the Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) (2022-1-ES01-KA131-HED-000056893-2).In addition, authors acknowledge the R&D unit MED – Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/05183/2020; https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDP/05183/2020) and the Associate Laboratory CHANGE – Global Change and Sustainability Institute (https://doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0121/2020).

This work was partly supported by ERASMUS+ through the Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) (2022-1-ES01-KA131-HED-000056893-2). Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis (Interlab), Regional Campus of International Excellence ’Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, Calle Campus Universitario 16, Espinardo, 30100, Murcia, Spain Asta Tvarijonaviciute, Silvia Martinez-Subiela & Jose J. Ceron Department of Dermatology, Stomatology, Radiology and Physical Medicine, University of Murcia, 30100, Murcia, Spain MED Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development & CHANGE Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Universidade de Évora, Evora, Portugal Clinic for Internal Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Heinzelova 55, Zagreb, 10000, Croatia Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania Department and Clinic of Animal Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Life Sciences, Lublin, Poland Correspondence to Silvia Martinez-Subiela.

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