The present disclosure involves a method of preparing a cervical sample for medical examination in which a papanicolaou stained sample is additionally stained with a label targeted to one or more high risk cancer markers to allow for optical detection of the human papilloma virus. That optical detection can be combined with morphometric detection of abnormal cells, which may be improved by multispectral imaging using an acousto-optic tunable filter. Several variations of screening methods and an apparatus for performing the methods are disclosed.