Murad Alam, MD, MSCI, MBA, Editor

In short, “gaps” can occur such that what is known is not communicated to frontline practitioners. The fruits of improved understanding therefore do not benefit patients. Other, similar types of gaps are also possible. For instance, researchers may fail to broach questions or problems that are of great relevance to clinicians. Here, the problem is not a lack of transmission of knowledge but a dearth of knowledge itself. Gaps can also emerge during dermatology residency, when useful information is not imparted to trainees.

Gaps occur because of obstacles, and they can be rectified by taking particular steps. The first step is to identify gaps. Next, the relevant causative obstacles and ideal corrective can be considered.

In this issue, we have invited content experts in specific areas of dermatology to think deeply about gaps in their subfields. We have asked them to identify practice gaps and training gaps, describe the obstacles that allow these to emerge, and suggest remedies that may help bridge these gaps.

Our expert contributors are free to cite the relevant literature, but the heart of each piece is their personal understanding of the limits of their content area based on years of experience. We have asked them to be brief, with a focus on the most important gaps, so that these most salient issues are easy to find and understand.

It is our hope that the creativity and incisive analysis of our contributors will stimulate work to fix these gaps.