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A short set of learning objectives for a defined period. Agree it with an appraiser or supervisor where you have one, or hold it yourself. Elaryvo is not limited to the NHS.
A personal development plan is a short set of learning objectives for a defined period — a year, a post, or the time until your next professional review.
It is a global professional habit. Doctors use it in many health systems, under this name or another. Elaryvo is not an NHS platform and a PDP here is not limited to UK appraisal.
It is personal. It is not a copy of a job description, not a college curriculum, and not Elaryvo’s Evidence Planner. The planner shows gaps. The PDP is what you have chosen to work on, with an appraiser or supervisor where that is how your system works, or on your own.
Agreed at appraisal or a performance review: you and the reviewer agree the objectives as the output of that conversation. In the UK this is how medical appraisal often uses a PDP; other countries have their own review meetings.
Agreed with a supervisor: usual in a training post — educational, clinical, or the local equivalent.
Self-regulated: you set and review the plan yourself when you are not in an appraisal or training relationship for that period.
Say which it is on every PDP log. Do not present a self-regulated plan as if someone else agreed it.
Reviewers need to know whether another professional stood behind the plan.
United Kingdom: a PDP is commonly the output of annual appraisal, agreed with the appraiser. In postgraduate training it is agreed with an educational or clinical supervisor. The GMC expects progress, or an explanation if that was not possible — it does not fix how many goals. Elaryvo is not the GMC or NHS appraisal form.
Elsewhere: use the same structure for College, employer or self-directed development. Keep the official process where your regulator or College requires one.
Three to five is usually enough. Write each one so you can tell, on the review date, whether you did it.
SMART means: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. Use it as a check, not as a slogan.
| Ask | If you cannot answer, rewrite |
|---|---|
| Specific | What exactly will you do? |
| Measurable | How will you know it happened? |
| Achievable | Can you actually do this in this period, with the time you have? |
| Relevant | Does it matter for your work or the next stage of your career? |
| Time-bound | By when? |
An objective you cannot evidence is a slogan. An objective with a date can be reviewed.
Write the action you control, not an outcome someone else decides.
You can sit an examination. You cannot promise the result. You can submit an application. You cannot promise the appointment. You can request feedback. You cannot promise what the other person will write.
| Sets you up to fail | Action you control |
|---|---|
| I will pass the exam in January. | I will sit the exam in January. |
| I will become a consultant this year. | I will complete and submit the application by June. |
| I will get outstanding MSF. | I will invite colleagues from three professional groups by March. |
| I will publish a paper. | I will submit the manuscript to a journal by September. |
A PDP is a plan for your work, not a prediction of other people’s decisions.
Too broad: ‘Get better at paediatrics.’
Usable: ‘Lead five de-identified acute assessments this quarter, request one Clinical Observation, and review the feedback with my supervisor.’
Too broad: ‘Do research.’
Usable: ‘Submit the ethics-and-research course certificate and log the proposal presentation date.’
Sets you up to fail: ‘I will pass Part I in January.’
SMART and fair: ‘I will sit Part I in January and log the sitting. I will complete the revision course by December.’
A PDP that is never reviewed is a file. At the next professional review, or at midpoint and the end of a training post, record what moved, what did not, and what the next period should be.
If you have an appraiser or supervisor, agree and review it with them. If you do not, mark it self-regulated and still review it on the dates you set.
Elaryvo does not submit a PDP to a regulator, College or designated body. Keep the official process where that process is required.
Open Logbook and choose PDP. First say whether it was agreed at appraisal or a review, agreed with a supervisor, or self-regulated. Then use a plan for the period, an objective for each goal, a progress note when you do the work, and a review at the end.
Link each objective to real evidence — do not paste the same paragraph into every record.
Learn more about reflection if an objective came from a difficult episode: /learn/how-to-reflect.