Individualized Learning Plans in Residency Training: Lessons for Surgical Education From a Cross-Specialty Scoping...

To characterize the current literature on individualized learning plans (ILPs) in graduate medical education, with emphasis on ILP components, implementation barriers, and strategies relevant to surgical residency training.

Scoping review of published literature from 2000 to 2025. PubMed and Google Scholar were searched using terms related to individualized learning plans, individualized development plans, and residents. Studies were screened using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, and data were extracted on specialty, ILP components, barriers, and proposed solutions.

Graduate medical education programs across multiple specialties, with interpretation focused on implications for surgical residency education.

Twenty-six studies met inclusion criteria. Pediatrics accounted for the largest proportion of included studies, while surgical specialties represented a small minority of the literature.

Findings indicated ILP implementation varied across specialties although common components included goal setting (95%), mentorship (86%), and planning (86%). Few studies incorporated all core ILP components. Four major barriers were identified: difficulty with goal-setting (92%), lack of tracking platforms (71%), resident time constraints (50%), and limited faculty participation (35%). While ILPs were associated with improved resident confidence and self-directed learning, evidence linking ILPs to patient outcomes was limited. Proposed solutions included structured frameworks, protected time, faculty development, and enhanced tracking systems.

Although ILPs are required in graduate medical education and align closely with competency-based training, their implementation remains inconsistent. The current literature is concentrated largely outside surgical specialties, leaving an important gap in evidence for surgical residency programs. More structured ILP frameworks, faculty engagement, protected time, and technology-supported tracking may improve ILP integration and help surgical programs better align individualized learning with competency-based progression.