Professional Practice Gaps – Your Roadmap for Quality Educational Offerings

Content:
In developing continuing education for Athletic Trainers (ATs) and interprofessional teams, it’s imperative to begin by identifying the underlying practice need that the learning will address. Professional practice gaps serve as the foundation/cornerstone of effective educational design. Strategic practice gaps are necessary for crafting subsequent learning objectives and designing intentional and impactful learning experiences that optimally- will be consistently adopted by the AT.

What is a Practice Gap?
The “Standards for BOC Approved Providers” require continuing education providers to identify the professional practice gap and/or educational need the content addresses. The practice gap is “the difference between health care processes or outcomes observed in practice, and those potentially achievable based on current professional knowledge” (I. Development and Structure, 1. Evidence, Essential Element A and Commentaries).

Another way of looking at a practice gap is to think of it as defining the discrepancy or inadequacy in professional practice that calls for educational intervention. It is expressed negatively, highlighting an area where learners lack essential knowledge or competence, or where there are deficiencies in current practice. These gaps signify a problem.

Practice Gap References

Harris, J. D., Abrams, G. D., Bach, B. R., Williams, D., Heidloff, D., Bush-Joseph, C. A., Verma, N. N.,   Forsythe, B., & Cole, B. J. (2014). Return to sport after ACL reconstruction. Orthopedics, 37(2). https://doi.org/10.3928/01477447-20140124-10

Bram, J. T., Magee, L. C., Mehta, N. N., Patel, N. M., & Ganley, T. J. (2020). Anterior cruciate ligament injury incidence in adolescent athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 49(7), 1962–1972. https://doi.org/10.1177/0363546520959619

Barber-Westin, S., & Noyes, F. R. (2020). One in 5 athletes sustain reinjury upon return to high-risk sports after ACL reconstruction: A systematic review in 1239 athletes younger than 20 years. Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach, 12(6), 587–597. https://doi.org/10.1177/1941738120912846

Types of Practice Gaps

Practice gaps arise from various causes and fall into different types, some of which are listed here.

• Outdated Practices: Persistent utilization of obsolete procedures or protocols.

Example: Despite the growing body of evidence supporting dynamic stabilization techniques, some Athletic Trainers continue to rely on traditional rigid cervical spine stabilization methods. This gap in practice can lead to unnecessary complications, hinder timely assessment, and ultimately affect the athlete’s recovery process.

• Lack of Awareness: Unfamiliarity with updates in standards of care, regulations, new professional guidelines or other advancements in evidence-based practice.

Example: New NATA position statements or consensus statements and various newly published practice guidelines introduce evolving best practices that need to be communicated and taught to Athletic Trainers. In the rapidly evolving landscape of health care scientific advancements, the effective communication of emerging evidence is a constant challenge that necessitates targeted educational interventions. New NATA position or consensus statements and other practice guidelines require dissemination.

• Quality Concerns: Identifying poor patient care outcomes, care quality concerns or outcome discrepancies.

Example: Local quality improvement project data, local, regional or national data, statistics on health outcomes from scholarly journal literature and applicable research projects demonstrate quality concerns or at least areas where improvements can be made.

• Inadequate Cultural Competence: Failing to meet the diverse needs of patient populations, especially underrepresented minority groups.

Example: Health disparities, culturally insensitive care, stereotyping and bias, health literacy disparities, and the negative upstream and downstream repercussions of social determinants of health could be types of cultural competence problems identified in a practice gap.

• Other: Unique practice gaps that impact patient outcomes. These could be anything from problems integrating of new technologies, to unanticipated barriers to care, to challenges to team communication or collaboration.

Example: A lack of familiarity with telehealth platforms could lead to inefficiencies in treatment, affecting patient care.

Common Pitfalls in Writing Practice Gaps

Writing practice gaps takes practice. Sorting through context to identify the most urgent problem(s) and comparing current to best practice is an analytical process. Take care to avoid the following pitfalls:

• Only describing current practice problems
• Only describing best practice
• Making a dubious or weak claim about current practice habits (claims should be referenced with supporting evidence)
• Marketing or promoting rather than referencing best practice
• Substituting learning outcomes for the practice gap
• Leaving it blank

Applying Practice Gaps
Once identified, practice gaps are the foundation for everything continuing education providers do. Here’s how they guide your work.

1.  Setting Learning Objectives: Learning objectives are crafted to address specific practice gaps. They define what learners should know, be able to do, or change in their practice to close the gap.

2. Designing Instructional Strategies and Content: Educational activities are developed to help learners meet objectives, providing the knowledge or skills needed to bridge the gap between current and ideal practice.

3. Assessing Learning Outcomes: Assessment measures how well learners have addressed the practice gaps by evaluating their progress in knowledge, competence, or performance.

The Importance of Quality Practice Gaps
Writing clear and well-defined practice gaps is essential for creating more relevant, more impactful, and engaging educational activities that advance an AT’s professional development. By accurately identifying these gaps and integrating them into the design of educational programs, BOC Approved Providers can offer strategically focused learning experiences that invite learners to resolve known problems. Ultimately, the goal is to support ATs in enhancing patient care outcomes.