Personal Development Plan (PDP) handbook

Site:	QMplus - The Online Learning Environment of Queen Mary University of London
Module:	IOD Home Page 2026/27
Book:	Personal Development Plan (PDP) handbook

Printed by:	Guest user
Date:	Tuesday, 8 September 2026, 4:11 AM

PDP - introduction
What is a PDP?
Who should write the PDP?
How do I identify my learning needs?
Reflection
Creating your PDP - written instructions

PDP - introduction

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN - QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

The online PDP is here to support your development, help you become a reflective practitioner, and enables you to work collaboratively with your Academic Adviser during your clinical years.

What is a PDP?

A Personal Development Plan (PDP) is a process by which educational needs are identified, objectives are set in relation to these, educational activities are undertaken to address these learning needs, and finally evidence is produced and recorded to confirm that new knowledge, understanding, or skills have been achieved. Your PDP is for you to consider, carefully.

It will allow you to realistically examine your strengths and weaknesses and enable you to plan what is required for your development. Having a PDP in place assures the GDC that you are reflecting upon your practice. In the future, you can use it to plan your CPD activity giving you the maximum benefit in maintaining and developing your practice. You should review your plan regularly to ensure it continues to relate to your current practice and can adapt to your future plans.

This should be used to inform discussion on your development with your Academic Adviser and to progress clinically and professionally in a structured manner. It would be sensible, at this stage, to consider the GDC's development outcomes and align your plan to these criteria. This is how you will need to construct your PDP during the rest of your career should you remain in the UK.

Read more here about the Benefits of Becoming a Reflective Practitioner [PDF]

Who should write the PDP?

You can obviously write it yourself, however you may not be too sure what your learning needs are, so the help of a clinical mentor / tutor may be useful. It shouldn't be discussed or formulated in snatched conversations between patients but in a relaxed atmosphere allowing time for due consideration.

How do I identify my learning needs?

You may be well aware of where you are lacking in confidence and knowledge without anyone having to tell you e.g. you might not have made any dentures or done any paediatric examinations. Try sitting down for ten minutes and writing down three things you do badly and three things that you do well.

Remember that you are identifying what you need to learn, not necessarily what you want to learn. Learning needs may also be identified from many other sources, such as: feedback from peers and nurses, feedback from patients.

Reflection

Ten key points on being a reflective practitioner:

Reflection is personal and there is no one way to reflect.
Having time to reflect on both positive and negative experiences is important for individual wellbeing and development.
Group reflection often leads to ideas or actions that can improve patient care.
The healthcare team should have opportunities to reflect and discuss openly and honestly what has happened when things go wrong.
A reflective note does not need to capture full details of an experience. It should capture learning outcomes and future plans.
Reflection should not substitute or override other processes that are necessary to record, escalate or discuss significant events and serious incidents.
When keeping a note, the information should be anonymised as far as possible.
Health Councils do not ask practitioners to provide their reflective notes in order to investigate a concern about them. They can choose to offer them as evidence of insight into their practice.
Reflective notes can currently be required by a court. They should focus on the learning rather than a full discussion of the case or situation. Factual details should be recorded elsewhere.
Tutors, supervisors, appraisers and employers should support time and space for individual and group reflection.

Taken from "The Reflective Practitioner" [PDF]

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When you have completed your PDP it is a time for reflection and an important opportunity to ask yourself a number of questions:

Did I achieve my learning needs?
What was easy, what was difficult?
How am I now going to apply what I have learnt?
How will what I have learnt help me, the practice, my colleagues, or the patients?
What is my next learning need?

Development Outcomes

You will need to use these development outcomes when completing your PDP.

Development Outcome	Example of CPD Content
A - Effective communication with patients, the dental team, and others across dentistry, including when obtaining consent, dealing with complaints, and raising concerns when patients are at risk.	Communication skills Consent Complaints handling Raising concerns Safeguarding
B - Effective management of self, and effective management of others or effective working with others in the dental team, in the interest of patients at all times; providing constructive leadership where appropriate.	Effective practice management Business management Team working
C - Maintenance and development of knowledge and skills within your field of practice.	Clinical and technical areas of study Radiography Cross infection control Medical emergencies and CPR CPD on quality assurance for MHRA CPD specific for your daily role/s Upskilling opportunities
D - Maintenance of skills, behaviours and attitudes which maintain patient confidence in you and the dental profession, and put patients interests first.	Ethical and legal issues and developments Professional behaviours Equality and diversity training

Any PDP must include:

The development needs you have
How these relate to development outcomes described by the GDC
The timescale over which the development goals should be achieved

On the next page you will find modified GDC forms to help you to construct your own PDP. Consideration of your developmental needs is related to your field of practice and a separate form is required by the regulator for this aspect.

Field of Practice

The field of practice form has been filled in for you apart from the 'additional roles, qualifications or professional interests'. You can copy this table and fill out this section if you feel this is appropriate.

You will be required to create My Personal Development Plan yourselves via QMplus Hub online. While it is important to consider any areas where you feel you may require more clinical experience, it is vital that you address the other skills required to function in the environment you are about to enter. Do not feel restrained by the number of rows in the form. You can add more if required.

The format of the form should help you consider SMART objectives.

Field of Practice - example
My registrant title(s) and cycle period	My work setting(s)	Any additional roles, qualifications or professional interests	My patient population
List each title you are registered under	What is your place(s) of work and its environment? Different settings may require you to undertake certain roles and skills	Do you have additional roles, qualifications, specialties or areas of focus/interest? Do any of these need continual learning or maintenance?	What are the oral health and management needs of patients in your care? Does this change across your work settings?
Final Year BDS student / BSc Oral Health year 2 student	Institute of Dentistry, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London	None	1. Patients from deprived populations in primary and secondary care settings. 2. Implementing oral health promotion programmes in community settings and delivering a national campaign - SUGAR SMART Tower Hamlets in primary schools to meet the needs of the local population.

PDP example

This is an example of the PDP that you will be completing via QMplus Hub. The fields filled in here are just examples - your own individual reflection is likely to be quite different.

PDP - example
What do I need to learn or maintain as I enter dental practice?	How does this relate to my field of practice?	Which development outcome does it link to?	What benefit will this have to my work?	How will I meet this learning or maintenance need?	When will I complete the activity?
What skills or knowledge have you identified that need developing? Are there any gaps that need addressing?	Why have you identified this? How does it relate to your daily job, patients or tasks?	A, B, C or D (see Development Outcomes table)	How will activity in this area help you to improve your daily work and/or care for patients?	What activities could you do to help meet your learning and maintenance needs? Explain how you will take action and what resources you may need.	What are your target dates for review and completion? When can you achieve this developmental goal?
I require further experience in extraction of primary teeth under LA	I need to be prepared to treat children and some of these will require XLA. This is an area where I feel I have had least clinical exposure. Cases are hard to find. This is a vital area of my practice where I need more clinical experience. I need to be confident in my abilities and this confidence will help ensure patient and parent/carer confidence in me.	C	I will be confident in carrying out XLA of primary teeth in child patients. Further practice will increase my expertise.	I will carry out my own study into appropriate LA for extractions, forcep selection, positioning of myself and patient for different teeth, the extraction procedure and post-operative care, to ensure I have the relevant knowledge of this procedure. I will re-visit previous teaching on this subject. All paediatric treatment I do will help me develop my behaviour management skills which are essential for XLA. I will practice forcep selection. I will engage with peers to experiment with positioning. I will explore attendance at an additional XGA session to gain more extraction experience. I will make my tutors aware I need XLA patients. I will engage with clinical tutors in assessment of suitable cases.	Within 3/6/9 months. Subject to review this will be ongoing throughout this academic year.
I require further experience in Endodontic procedures	I will be seeing many patients who require RCT. This is an area where I feel I had least clinical exposure. This is a vital area of my practice where I need more clinical experience. I need to be confident in my abilities.	C	I will be confident in carrying out RCT in patients. Further practice will increase my expertise.	I will carry out my own studying into RCT procedures to ensure I will increase my knowledge of this and seek out tutorials on RCTs. I will engage with my clinical tutor in assessment and treatment planning of suitable cases. Attending observation (consultant/PG clinics); lectures (CPD) on endodontic treatment.	Within 3/6/9 months. Subject to review this will be ongoing throughout this academic year.
Record keeping	As an undergraduate I have been taught the importance of clear and concise record keeping. I am concerned the time I allot to this is excessive. I need to learn to be concise and accurate.	B	Make sure that I am carrying out accurate and sufficient notes for my daily practice, and satisfy the regulatory requirements. This will benefit both my patients and colleagues and help coordinate continuity of patient care.	I will update my knowledge on the importance of record keeping as stated by the GDC through careful revision of the guidelines, educational articles and educational evenings. My clinical tutor / mentor is likely to be a great source of information.	Within 3 months of beginning practice. Subject to review this will be ongoing throughout this academic year.
Medical emergencies and basic life support	As per the GDC standards, I must follow guidelines for training set by Resuscitation Council. Expected as part of my general clinical duties.	C	I will be able to understand how to deal with any patient who has a medical emergency, administer CPR, oxygen and emergency drug administration where appropriate. I need to ensure I remain confident at carrying out CPR and dealing with any medical emergencies that may arise both within the practice and in every day life.	I will attend certified medical emergency and CPR training days both within the practice and at CPD medical emergency events. I will keep up to date through the GDC online resources and the resuscitation council's information.	Ongoing
Treatment planning	I have gained valuable treatment planning experience as an undergraduate but I feel my ability to plan more complex cases is lacking.	A C	I will build up expertise and become more confident in treatment planning. This will enable me to become more self-reliant and be more confident with my patients.	I will ask for, and engage in, case planning tutorials with my clinical tutor / mentor. I will conduct my own study and engage with my peers in treatment planning discussions.	Within 3 months of beginning practice. Subject to review this will be ongoing throughout this academic year.
Self-reflective learning	I understand that moving on my main motivator for further study will be myself.	C D	I will become more self-motivated in my studies. This is a skill I require for the rest of my time as a clinician.	I will keep and maintain a portfolio of my clinical experience. I will ensure that I record procedures that have gone well, along with problems I have encountered. I will use any areas I find problematic to inform further study. I will use such areas as the basis for tutorials with my trainer and use tutorial time in study days to help me with guidance in such areas.	Ongoing
Effective team working	During my time in outreach I realised the importance of working within a team.	A B D	I need to be respectful of the other people with whom I work. I need to understand their roles and experience relative to my own inexperience in practice. I need to be able to take advice and accept criticism. I need to use such feedback to inform my practice and use it to improve my interpersonal skills and clinical practice.	I will ask for feedback from all members of the dental team and, where appropriate, from patients. I will engage in tutorials with all members of the dental team and use this experience to help me deal respectfully with the whole team.	Ongoing, review at 3 months.