Individualized Learning Plans: Faculty as Facilitators

Introduction: Individualized learning plans (ILPs) are documented personal learning objectives developed by a learner with the help of a facilitator. The Pediatric Residency Review Committee requires residents to accomplish one ILP per year. Faculty members, including program directors, who are newly responsible for facilitating development of resident ILPs may feel unprepared for the task. They are likely unfamiliar with the concepts of ILPs, and most have not created an ILP of their own.

Methods: This paper-based faculty development curriculum is designed to educate faculty members on ILPs. The materials include a didactic introduction regarding ILPs and an overview of adult learning theory and self-assessment, an annotated bibliography citing current articles on these topics, a frequently asked question handout, a framework for accomplishing their own ILP, and a faculty “ILP Self-Efficacy Scale.” The faculty learners are encouraged to learn at their own pace, however the didactic component should be executed in a group.

Results: After presentation of the didactic portion of this curriculum at a national meeting, a number of program directors requested access to the material. At the Association of Pediatric Program Directors (APPD) Spring Meeting, 18 out of 18 evaluations rated the workshop “excellent” or “very good,” while 18 out of 18 reported they would recommend this workshop/curriculum to others. Additionally, at the Fall APPD Meeting 2007, 38 participants (out of 38 that returned the evaluation) reported that the material presented was “very helpful” to “helpful.”

Discussion: The significance of the work is that the concepts and practices with ILPs are very new, thus there is a paucity of data on faculty involvement and development regarding them. This information is an organized, step-by-step approach to educating faculty about ILPs and self-directed learning concepts.