How We Identify Learning Gaps

• Stotalis CME
• September 15, 2025

In high-quality Continuing Medical Education, everything starts with a clear understanding of what needs to be learned. Before the first slide is built or the first case study is written, the most important question is asked: Where is the gap between what clinicians know or do, and what evidence tells us they should know or do?

This is the learning gap, and identifying it with precision is what separates impactful CME from activities that fail to move the needle. Here is how we approach the process.

We Begin With Evidence, Not Assumptions

Strong CME is anchored in science. That means our first step is not to guess at educational needs but to dig into the data. We examine:

• Recent clinical guidelines and consensus statements to identify new recommendations that may not yet be widely adopted.
• Peer-reviewed studies and systematic reviews to uncover emerging evidence that could influence diagnosis, treatment, or patient management.
• Epidemiologic and registry data to understand disease burden, care disparities, and real-world treatment patterns.

By starting here, we ground our educational planning in objective, up-to-date sources that show where the evidence has advanced and where clinical practice may be lagging.

We Listen to the Learners

Evidence tells part of the story. Clinicians’ lived experiences tell the rest. Through surveys, structured interviews, advisory boards, and even digital listening tools, we hear directly from healthcare professionals about the challenges they face in implementing best practices.

These conversations often reveal important insights, such as:

• Workflow or resource barriers that hinder adoption of new guidelines.
• Misinterpretations of evidence due to outdated training or limited exposure to certain cases.
• Specialty-specific nuances, such as how primary care physicians and specialists approach the same clinical decision differently.

Listening ensures that our educational programming is not just academically relevant but also practical in real-world clinical environments.

We Map the Gap

Once we have the evidence and the learner perspective, we connect the two. This is where we distinguish between knowledge gaps, competence gaps, and performance gaps:

• Knowledge gap: Clinicians do not know the most current evidence or guidelines.
• Competence gap: Clinicians know the information but are uncertain how to apply it in specific patient scenarios.
• Performance gap: Clinicians have the knowledge and skills but face systemic barriers that prevent consistent implementation.

By mapping the gap in this way, we can design activities that directly target the type of learning needed, whether that is providing foundational information, improving decision-making skills, or addressing systemic practice barriers.

We Validate With Outcomes Frameworks

To ensure our identified gaps meet both educational and accreditation standards, we use models such as Moore’s Outcomes Framework. This helps us confirm that the gap is measurable and can be linked to an educational intervention that meaningfully impacts knowledge, competence, performance, or patient outcomes.

This step also sets the stage for how we will evaluate the activity later, ensuring accountability and continuous improvement.

Why It’s Important for Lifelong Learning

When learning gaps are identified with rigor, CME activities do more than inform. They close the space between what is known and what is practiced, helping clinicians deliver better, more evidence-based care. The result is education that is timely, relevant, and capable of creating lasting change in healthcare delivery.

Identifying the right gap at the start means the activity will not just be an event but a step forward in clinical excellence.