Immediate and Longitudinal Outcomes of a National Hands-On Basic Research Course in Rhinology

Hands-on basic research training opportunities for early-career clinicians are limited, particularly in surgical specialties such as rhinology. To address this gap, the Japanese Rhinologic Society organized a short-term society-led hands-on basic research course.

This mixed-methods program evaluation analyzed postcourse and long-term follow-up questionnaire surveys administered to course participants. The immediate postcourse survey assessed satisfaction, perceived educational value, and motivation using Likert-scale items. A long-term follow-up survey evaluated sustained research engagement, perceived utility of the course, and subsequent academic outcomes, including conference presentations, manuscript preparation, collaborative research, and grant applications.

Immediately after the course, 98.4% of participants rated the educational content as highly satisfactory, and 96.8% reported obtaining useful insights applicable to future research. Most participants (93.5%) indicated that the course should be continued, and 71.0% expressed willingness to participate again. At long-term follow-up, 62.9% of respondents were actively engaged in basic research either as team members (40.7%) or as primary investigators (22.2%). The most frequently cited long-term benefits were networking with instructors and peers (74.1%) and increased research motivation (63.0%). Academic outputs following course participation included conference presentations (37.0%), manuscript preparation or submission (33.3%), initiation of new research projects or collaborations (18.5%), and grant applications or funding acquisition (14.8%).

A short-term, society-led hands-on basic research course was associated with sustained research engagement and tangible academic outcomes. Such programs may play an important role in fostering the development of clinician-scientists and strengthening research capacity in rhinology.

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