Donald Rumsfeld is famous for his comments regarding unknown unknowns in the Iraq war but it this concept is defined in 1955 by the Johari Window which was described by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingam to help explain personal relationships.

The Johari Window also applies to an important educational consideration where there are gaps in our knowledge, skills and professionalism that we are unaware of. This is perhaps the greatest fear in medicine but how do we address the problem? Tools such as patient satisfaction questionnaires, multi-source feedback, significant event analysis, audits and appraisals are some important, currently employed measures and our learning log will demonstrate spread of learning but this is a relatively reactive mechanism and we tend to gravitate towards our interests and ‘known unknowns’ when addressing learning needs.

Our next release of Digitalis will have a tailored feed of suggested learning based on the user’s curriculum gaps, location and speciality area to help ensure continued spread of relevant learning. We will also provide a platform to discuss cases and share learning. I think these are two invaluable ways in which Digitalis will be able to promote best practice.