Whiddon COM shares ILP innovations at national meeting on medical education

Kristy Motte, Ed.D.; Kay Lynn Ceja, Ph.D.; and Angie O'Neal, M.Ed., present at the Association of Medical Education Learning Specialists annual meeting. 

At the 2025 Association of Medical Education Learning Specialists (MELS) annual meeting, held Nov. 5–7 in San Antonio, Angie O’Neal, M.Ed., director of learning support services at the Whiddon College of Medicine, joined two national colleagues to lead a workshop on strengthening individualized learning in medical education.

O’Neal co-presented the 60-minute session, “Bridging the Gap: Integrating Individual Learning Plans (ILPs) into Everyday Best Practices,” alongside Kristy Motte, Ed.D., instructional assistant professor and director of academic success at Texas A&M University, and Kay Lynn Ceja, Ph.D., senior director of learning skills at Charles R. Drew University College of Medicine.

The workshop explored the integration of ILPs into everyday practice to enhance the development of Master Adaptive Learners. Participants engaged in interactive activities, discussions, and explored practical examples from all three institutions to understand how MELS can be involved in the creation and implementation of effective ILPs in undergraduate medical education as preparation for the transition to graduate medical education.

O’Neal shared the evolution of the Whiddon COM’s ILP program, which she was hired to establish in August 2023. Since then, medical students in all four years have been creating and utilizing individual learning plans. 

“Individual learning plans are vital in medical education because they help students take ownership of their development,” O’Neal said. “By identifying their own areas for improvement — using reflection on competencies and the feedback they've received — and creating intentional steps for growth, students build the reflective habits they’ll depend on throughout residency and beyond. Believing in the power of this process, I joined with two remarkable colleagues to share our work with fellow learning specialists, hoping to inspire others to bring ILPs back to their institutions.”  

O’Neal also presented two visuals highlighting the Whiddon COM’s ILP program: a timeline of the program’s implementation and a student timeline showing how ILPs are introduced and revisited throughout all four years of medical school.