Personal Development Project

What is Personal Development?

Reflecting on our strengths and identifying opportunities for change is the first step toward making personal improvements. When we are our best selves, we’re in a better position to help others.

Step 1: Review Formal Feedback and/or Self-Reflection Data

Below are some methods to obtain feedback/data. Pick one that is appropriate for your practice:  

1. Physician wellness is critical, as burnout and system stress impact performance. The WestView PCN has purchased 50 licenses for the Maslach Burnout Inventory. This is a 22-questionnaire licensed product. Please contact Amanda Bouma at amanda.bouma@westviewpcn.ca to obtain a copy. 
2. Review feedback from peers, learners, or patients. This feedback could be gathered through performance reviews from your colleagues, teaching evaluations, or patient surveys.
3. Complete a multi-source feedback review, such as the Medical Council of Canada’s MCC 360 program:

            -   MCC 360 Multi-Source Feedback (MSF) and Coaching Program - PDF 

-   If you do the MCC 360 program, you’ll receive a phone call from a CPSA facilitator to discuss your report and look at opportunities for practice change. You’ll be encouraged to develop personal action plans, to implement practice improvements, and foster the best chance for success, i.e., they will help you through the rest of the steps.

Step 2:  Identify an area to improve through the Facilitation of your data with a colleague, direct supervisor, formal facilitator, or trained coach.

This can be through group facilitation. A REQUIRED step.

Step 3:  Developing and Documenting an Action Plan

Personal Development Action Plan Template BLANK

Step 4: Implementing Your Plan

How you implement your plan will vary widely depending on what personal development area you are working on. Some examples are:

•  Take the Charting Champion Course
•  Listen to Sustainable Clinic Medicine Podcasts 
•  Take the SuperDoc Workshop: Leveraging CBT Tools to Maximize Physician Resiliency
•  Take a leadership course from the Faculty of Medicine Lifelong Learning: 

          -   Crucial Conversations

          -   Dare to Lead

• Participate in The College of Family Physicians of Canada's Wellness Retreat in Kananaskis

Step 5: Evaluate Your Success

Again, this will vary a lot depending on what change you make. It might just be repeating a Burnout Questionnaire to see if things have changed.

Step 6: Submit in PPIP Section of CPSA Renewal Information Form

This just means that on your annual CPSA review you click “Yes” for the PPIP Objective Quality Improvement project. Don’t panic if you have previously clicked “Yes” and didn’t have it done yet.  Just make sure that you do complete this by Dec 31, 2025.

Source: Warner, Dr.J. (2012) Personal skills and effectiveness cartoon, ReadyToManage. Available at: https://blog.readytomanage.com/personal-skills-and-effectiveness-cartoon/ (Accessed: 06 February 2024).