PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

Personal development planning (PDP) is a process that enables you to reflect on your own learning, performance and achievement and helps you to plan your personal, educational and career development. Ask yourself: o o o o How well am I doing? What are my strengths? What could I do better? What skills do I need to develop?

PDP is not only about developing yourself academically as a student, although that is the core of part of the University experience, but also a process of developing yourself as an individual in a broader sense in that it promotes professionalism and the need to take responsibility for ones own learning.

HOW CAN PDP HELP ME? You may benefit in a number of ways. o o Reflecting on what and how you learn, reviewing your work and skills and being organised, can have a positive impact upon your academic performance. PDP enables you to formulate a plan of what you want to achieve during your time at the School so that you can make the best use of your time and the resources the School has to offer.

It will prepare you for your future as a practising pharmacist.

WHAT DOES PDP INVOLVE? Asking yourself a series of questions will help you to take stock of, review and record your existing skills and experiences so that you can ascertain where you are now and plan ahead. Where am I now? Take stock of your current knowledge and skills and review them to identify areas for improvement. Where do I want to be? Reflect on where you want to be and set goals. How do I get there? Prepare a plan of how you are going to achieve your goals. What support do I need? Decide what support or resources you will need. What have I achieved? Monitor your progress on a regular basis. How did I do? Having achieved something, look back and reflect on how you did, what you achieved and what you might do better next time.

WHAT SHOULD I DO IN MY PDP? The whole point about PDP is that you reflect on your knowledge and practice and identify your own learning needs, and how and where you will find the necessary information to meet those needs. The following are examples of the types of issues that might be used to prepare a PDP. Remember that these are only suggestions.

Concepts covered in lectures or practical classes that you find particularly difficult to grasp. Problems with calculations. Concerns about organising your workload. Concerns about the amount of material covered in the lectures. Preparing for assessments. Maintaining interest and motivation.

There may be other areas that relate to your life as a pharmacy student. For example, what do the General Pharmaceutical Councils Fitness to Practice regulations mean for your conduct inside and outside the School or as a future pharmacist, and what do pharmacists do when undertaking a medicines use review (MUR) for a patient? As you have probably gathered by now, PDP is not something you do once and forget; it is an ongoing cycle of personal reflection and development. HOW MANY DO I HAVE TO DO? During the first year, you are required to complete SIX PDPs (a minimum of three in the first term and three in the second term) that will form part of your Personal Development Portfolio. The format of the PDPs has been adapted from those that practising pharmacists are required to complete to remain registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council. The PDPs must be submitted to your academic tutor at the end of each term to be reviewed and signed, and feedback given as appropriate. Please note that this is a requirement of the MPharm degree programme, it is not optional. Also, if it is evident that your plans are not to the standard expected, you will be asked to amend and re-submit them. Your complete portfolio will be reviewed at a meeting with a senior tutor at the end of the year.

Personal Development Plan Title of PDP: Name: Tutor: Date of submission: Signature: Signature: Date of review:

Reflection Desired Outcome (What do you want to learn - (How will I achieve my objective) be specific)

Timescale (Be realistic; need to do in stages?)

Key Actions (Things I need to do to achieve my objectives)

Actions and Support (What have I done to achieve this learning or to get the help I needed)

Evaluation (What progress have I made and which goals have I achieved?)