Printed on: July 9th, 2025
What makes a good Personal Development Plan (PDP)?
What makes a good Personal Development Plan (PDP)?
The PDP as a GP trainee
Throughout training, GP trainees must keep an active PDP as part of the e-portfolio. This is agreed by the educational supervisor (ES) at the end of each review period, in preparation for the Educational Supervisor’s Report (ESR).
Within the trainee portfolio, PDPs are designed:
- Assess your learning needs.
- Plan actions to meet these needs.
- Review achievement of these needs, with supporting evidence.
- Demonstrate completion of the learning cycle.
The PDP as a qualified GP
Once we’ve jumped through all the hurdles and got our Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT), it would be completely understandable to want to take our foot off the gas and relax a bit.
But, as a practising GP, we need to complete an annual appraisal, part of which is a PDP that captures our ongoing personal development needs.
Why?
Even when we’ve achieved our CCT, we don’t want to stop learning. Evidence and guidance are continually changing, and the skills we need will evolve throughout our careers. Our annual appraisal requires us to reflect on past PDPs and think about what to focus on in future. In other words, a PDP is an essential part of being both a GP trainee AND a practising GP.
What does a good PDP look like?
Here, we’ve outlined our top tips on what makes a good PDP. This is based on RCGP guidance and the real-life experience of the Red Whale GPST training programme directors and trainers.
| 1. How to choose an item for your PDP |
Starting at the beginning, how do you even know what to include? We suggest discussing your ideas with your clinical/educational supervisor because they will have a good sense of what is appropriate for your LEVEL and STAGE of training (ST1, 2, etc.). PDPs can be generated from a clinical case that may uncover a Patient’s Unmet Need (PUN) or a Doctor’s Educational Need (DEN). For example: PUN: A 7-year-old child attended with their mother with worsening asthma symptoms. Mum asked about stepping up treatment, but I was unsure which next step was recommended for children at this age. DEN: I need to improve my understanding of the current guidelines on managing asthma in children, especially regarding stepping up treatment. Other ways to generate a PDP are from learning events or a further learning need that arises from an educational session. TOP TIP: Avoid something generic that ALL trainees must do, such as: Why? Because these are things required of EVERY trainee – they don’t reflect your unique development needs. (They are also not SMART objectives…see Tip #3.) |
| 2. Use a clear, concise title | We suggest making each PDP entry title as specific as possible, e.g. Improving knowledge in stepping up asthma management in children rather than Asthma management. |
| 3. Include ALL four required strands | Four strands are required for a PDP entry to be considered complete: So, a PDP entry could be: TOP TIP: Think SMART when writing your PDPs. The entries need to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. Trainees may struggle around the ‘measurable’ or ‘realistic’ parts, which tend to get overlooked during the middle of a busy post! So, with the above example, a non-SMART PDP would be stating that you would be reviewing several childhood asthma patients while on a psychiatry rotation – probably not very realistic! |
| 4. For your ACTION PLAN, use a selection of different tools | For your action plan, think beyond just doing an online training module! For example, what about…. |
| 5. Reflect when you review and complete a PDP item | When completing and closing a PDP, take a moment to reflect and think. Some questions to ask could be: TOP TIP: When you review your PDPs, the section for reflection should be reflective – not descriptive. Some trainees tend to describe what was done, rather than explain what the personal impact was and how you would consider doing things differently going forward. |
| 6. What if I don’t complete it on time? | If you haven’t completed a PDP item by the target date, you don’t have to delete it…. just update it and roll it forward if it’s still relevant. This is fine to do, but you should describe in the PDP section why you have not completed the goal and reflect on the reasons. You can also outline if you have made some progress towards the goal. Your supervisor will then have a better understanding and be more able to support you when agreeing the PDP items going forward. |
| 7. Include one PDP item that spans your next post or review period | When you come to your Educational Supervisors Report, part of the requirement is for trainees to consider a PDP item that they would like to cover during their next review period. The PDP ideas can be added to the ESR preparation area at any time prior to the review meeting. TOP TIP: before setting any future PDPs, it’s worth spending time reviewing the progress of existing PDPs; this will allow you to consider which have not been achieved and may need to be carried over. |
| 8. Keep (at least) 3 active PDP entries on the go…though don’t fall into the trap of having 100s! | This demonstrates that you are actively managing your learning and will be sufficient to demonstrate progress. Having too many active PDP entries will be overwhelming and lead to the PDP being more of a burden than an educational process that builds your learning needs. |
| 9. Don’t leave it too late! | When preparing for your ESR, ensure you plan and pace your entries. Rushing through planning and completing your PDP entries will mean they are not as educationally beneficial. It’s helpful to have ideas for your PDP at the back of your mind as you go through the year. Keep thinking ahead to what you would like to achieve in the next 6–12 months because this will give you a clear idea about what to focus on. You may find that you have lots of ideas at once; note them down and then decide on which ones you want to submit for your portfolio. Your educational supervisor (or programme director) can also be approached for advice; they have a wealth of experience and have seen many trainees and PDPs over the years – so use their experience! |
| 10. Carrying over a PDP from GP training to GP appraisal | Once you have achieved your CCT, pat yourself on the back, but also think about what your PDP for the final ESR will be. Trainees often have all sorts of ideas for their first year as a fully-fledged GP, but this may be a good opportunity to discuss your priorities, ongoing learning needs and how you wish to achieve them with your GP trainer. This may be attending a course, developing a special interest or just getting settled in a particular area of the country to practice. Practically, you will need to consider what GP appraisal tool you will be using, and look to export or take a screenshot of your final GP registrar PDP to put into your first GP appraisal. Thankfully, the format of GP appraisal is very similar, with a focus on SMART objectives; having planned and carried out PDPs in this way during training will set you up well for your future career. |
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What makes a good Personal Development Plan (PDP)? |
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Useful resources: Websites (all resources are hyperlinked for ease of use in Red Whale Knowledge) For the most up-to-date information on PDPs, always refer to the official sites: |
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