Criterion 2 asks the accredited provider to identify the professional practice gaps of their own learners. It’s important to recognize that this moves us beyond handing surveys to our learners and saying: What is it that you want to know? It recognizes that your learners – our learners – are part of communities and populations of professionals. And the people that are sitting in your room, the needs of those individuals, are a reflection of the needs that you know from communities or populations.
So if the data in the United States says that all the pediatricians have a problem addressing a certain kind of clinical problem, then it’s reasonable to think that all the pediatricians that you’re going to deal with have the same professional practice gap. And then you can explore with your own learners perhaps, what underlying knowledge, competence or performance problem they might have; or it’s fair to take what is known at a national level or at a community level and say to your learners: This is what this educational activity is going to address.
It’s important that accredited providers recognize that this is articulated by ACCME in Criterion 2, but also carries over into Criterion 4, where you want your educational activities to match the scope of practice of your learners. So when you talk to your learners, when you ask your learners at the beginning of the activity, during it or at the end: This is a question and a problem for all pediatricians, does it represent a problem in your practice? Do these patients present themselves in your practice? When they say yes, you’re fulfilling the criteria for ACCME for Criterion 4. If they don’t have those problems in their practice, then you have to modify your activity perhaps, and say: Well, we’re going to deal with what would happen if they came to your practice. And then you could move on to addressing it in future activities.
