Writing a Personal Development Plan

A personal development plan (PDP) is a valuable tool that helps individuals identify their career goals, acquire new skills and knowledge and improve their performance.

It is a stepped process involving setting goals to identify what you want to improve and what you hope to achieve, identifying strengths and weaknesses through self-assessment, seeking out opportunities for personal growth through courses, conferences, workshops and online resources and then creating a timeline to achieve the plan.

You may well need support and guidance from mentors and/or colleagues. Contacts within professional networks and organizations such as the Society of Occupational Medicine can also help.

To be successful you will need to stay organized, keep track of progress and note your achievements and challenges. The PDP plan is a living document that should be updated and revised as you grow and evolve as a medical practitioner. Staying committed to the plan can be difficult in the face of work and social pressures but is essential if you are to derive maximum benefit.

A well-thought-out PDP will contain objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound—the so-called SMART framework. It is important that you have control over the areas of your skill set that you wish to develop so that you can hold yourself accountable for achieving them. It is pointless to identify objectives that you have no control over; they must align with your professional interests and values.

By setting SMART goals, you can ensure that your PDP is focused and actionable. This will increase your chances of achieving your goals and making meaningful progress in your career.

One of the challenges for any occupational physician is writing a PDP when they are approaching retirement. It is natural to wonder if it is worthwhile with limited professional time available but it can help with planning and the transition into retirement. Reviewing goals for the final few years can be the start, assessing current skills and interests then naturally follows. Whilst the retirement plan may include giving up the medical license and hence also the need for revalidation, there are opportunities to continue to undertake medical work and earn income without a licence with just GMC registration. Applying for such roles takes time, so if this is an attractive option, then it needs to be initiated well before the actual date of retirement.

A useful template for a PDP can be found on the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges at https://www.aomrc.org.uk/revalidation/medical-appraisal-revalidation/.