HIRAMEKI☆TOKIMEKI Science! A “Let’s Conduct Clinical Research and Solve Clinical Questions to Reduce Side Effects for Patients!” Event and Survey Results

To date, no study has reported a program in which people can learn about clinical research in “HIRAMEKI☆TOKIMEKI Science.” This program focused on one problem in clinical practice: skin damage caused by anticancer drug therapy. Participants analyzed the factors leading to serious skin damage using simulated data and studied the concept and methods used in clinical research. Out of the 16 high school students who participated, 15 completed the questionnaire. Because of the questionnaire, when asked “How was today’s program?” nine students answered “Very interesting” and six answered “Interesting.” When asked “Was today’s program easy to understand?” six students responded “Very easy to understand,” whereas nine responded “Easy to understand.” When asked “Have you become more interested in science?” nine students answered “Became very interested,” and six answered “Gained some interest.” Furthermore, when participants were divided into groups by reason for participating and compared with other questionnaire items, the results revealed that, in response to the question “Have you become more interested in science?” the scores for “Because I was interested in the program content” were significantly higher than those for “Because my teacher or parents recommended it.” The participating students showed interest in the clinical research program. We believe that the difficulty level was appropriate for this population; therefore, offering similar programs for high school students is feasible in the future.