Personal Development Plans (PDP)

Your Personal Development Plan is centred around goals that you agree with your Educational Supervisor at the end of a review period (in preparation for your ESR). Throughout the review period, the idea is that you review and update your goals. Some of these you will complete, and some you will carry forwards to your next review period. You can suggest new PDP goals as ideas before your ESR and then your Supervisor agrees with you which ones to use in the Agreed PDP. 

In summary, there are 3 stages to the PDP process: 

1. Review progress against previously agreed PDP goals 
2. Suggest New PDP entries 
3. Agree with your Supervisor the PDP for your next review period 

You should work through each stage in order. If you haven't said which entries you wish to carry over, they won't appear in the 'Suggest new entries area' and if you don't agree PDP entries with your supervisor, they then won't appear in step 1 of your next review period. 

Follow our slides on how the PDP can be completed in the trainee portfolio: PDP screenshots (PDF file, 2.8 MB)

You can read more in the help centre for the portfolio. 

How does the PDP appear in the portfolio? 

There are initially four strands to each PDP: 

• Learning or development need 
• Action plan (what actions might you take to achieve this / agreed actions or goals) 
• Target date 
• How success will be demonstrated

You will be asked to provide a brief title for each PDP. When reviewing an agreed PDP, you will be asked to say whether you achieved it and enter your reflection ("Now reflect on this - for example did you meet any unexpected challenges? Might you set a new goal for this year to carry on from this?") 

PDP ideas and agreeing the PDP with your supervisor

As part of the ESR process, trainees will be required to create at least one PDP idea to cover their next review period or post. The PDP ideas can be added at any time in the ESR preparation area, although it's recommended to review the progress of your agreed PDPs first, as this will allow you to carry over any PDPs that have not been achieved. 

The ES will review all PDP ideas in preparation for the ESR and may help edit to make them SMART or advise trainees to add further entries to cover missed or future learning needs, if appropriate. The supervisor can access this in the PDP area in the ESR, by clicking "Manage the Agreed PDP". 

PDP ideas should continue to be created throughout the training post, and progress on those created in the last review assessed and recorded. 

PDPs should aim to be: 

• Specific - this means clear and possible to demonstrate; for example, ‘learning all about women’s health’ is not specific, but ‘improving knowledge of contraception options’ is. It should be about you and your needs as a GP 
• Measurable - this means you can demonstrate that you have evidence that your objective has been achieved; for example, by a reflection in your learning log or a CbD/CAT on that area 
• Achievable - for example, doing an e-learning module on joint injections, attending a minor surgery course or clinic and documenting your learning from these in the log is realistically achievable 
• Realistic / Relevant - this means with respect to time and ability, and appropriate for your role as GP trainee and GP in the future and should relate to personal goals 
• Time-bound - setting a ‘Target Date’ that is realistic, reviewed and changed as needed is key to setting a timeframe for achievement.

Learning objective 

• The more specific the learning objective, the easier it is to construct an action plan, agree a focused date by which to achieve this and to evaluate how it has been achieved 
• Confidence on its own is very hard to measure and, therefore, we would recommend avoiding this term in your learning objectives 
• Suggested words for learning objectives include - provide, learn, develop, deliver, manage, summarise, demonstrate, document and evaluate
• Appropriate examples
  • learn about acute eye conditions and demonstrate in log entries use of this knowledge and skills in assessing and managing them 
  • demonstrate the ability to recognise the acutely unwell child and how to safely manage them 
  • summarise my learning about management options for menorrhagia, and demonstrate applying these in clinical cases 
  • learn about and identify resources for supporting patients and their relatives suffering from dementia 
• Several short specific PDPs are better than an extensive one 
• Inappropriate examples 
  • Pass the AKT / CSA: Passing the AKT and the CSA are national requirements for all trainees and so there is no benefit in adding these to the PDP. 
  • Add more log entries: Adding more log entries is not specific enough to show learning. 

Target date 

This can be: 

• in the near future, short term, next few weeks, for example, for learning objectives for entries that involve e-learning or looking up information 
• medium term, in the next six months, for attending courses and gaining experience of others managing conditions 
• longer term, by end of ST3 year, for managing specific conditions in line with national guidelines.

Action plans 

• need to be specific and relevant to the objective and the time-frame set 
• can have a variety of elements to them, for example 
  • e-learning modules 
  • sitting in, attending clinics 
  • attending courses 
  • looking up on the intranet / in a book 
  • visiting social services 
  • writing a practice protocol 
  • writing patient information leaflets