Effectiveness of a multi-surgical department online recruitment event ‘GEKA-Navi’ on career motivation and residency entry: a 5-year experience

PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of "GEKA-Navi," a collaborative online recruitment event organized by eight surgical departments, and analyze the participant feedback and residency entry data from 2021 to 2025. METHODS: GEKA-Navi targeted medical students and residents and featured plenary sessions on surgical careers, as well as departmental breakout sessions. The primary outcome was the proportion of newly recruited surgical residents from 2021 to 2025 who had participated in GEKA-Navi. The secondary outcomes were questionnaire-based participant evaluations, including satisfaction and motivation toward surgical careers. RESULTS: Five events were conducted, with annual participation ranging from 82 to 150 individuals. A total of 151 new surgical residents entered the participating departments from 2021 to 2025, of whom 90 (59.6%) had previously attended GEKA-Navi. Secondary outcome analyses revealed consistently high participant satisfaction, with 98% of participants reporting increased interest in joining surgical departments and over 80% reporting increased motivation to become surgeons. CONCLUSIONS: GEKA-Navi was associated with high participant satisfaction and increased interest in surgical careers. These findings provide descriptive insights into participants' perceptions and recruitment patterns within a structured multidepartmental recruitment initiative. Such approaches may help inform the design of future recruitment strategies for clinical trials.