New ZealandRecertification · All professions
Professional Development Plan Examples for New Zealand Health Practitioners
Sixteen worked PDP goals for doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, oral health practitioners, physiotherapists, psychologists and occupational therapists. Each one shows the learning need, the standard it links to, the activities, the evidence and how the goal gets reviewed and closed.
Reviewed October 2026 against Medical Council, bpacnz Inpractice, RNZCGP, Nursing Council, Midwifery Council, Pharmacy Council, Dental Council, Physiotherapy Board, Psychologists Board and Occupational Therapy Board guidance
Short answer: A good New Zealand professional development plan has two to four goals, each built from a real learning need, tied to a named standard or competency from your own authority, and backed by planned activities, the evidence you will keep and a date when someone else reviews it with you. Cultural safety and health equity should appear in at least one goal for most professions. Below are 16 worked examples you can adapt, plus weak and strong versions so you can test your own drafts.
Key takeaways
- The Medical Council (general and vocational scopes), the Dental Council and the Physiotherapy Board all require a PDP. Pharmacists set learning goals each year in MyRecert, and psychologists write learning objectives and a learning plan in their Continuing Competence Programme.
- The Nursing Council does not ask for a PDP, but a short plan is still the easiest way to make your 60 professional development hours cover all six pou.
- Strong goals start from evidence (audit, feedback, an incident, a gap against a standard), not from a list of courses you already booked.
- Every goal needs a named reviewer: a collegial relationship provider, professional peer, verifier or supervisor. A plan nobody else has seen is the most common weak point.
- Close the loop in writing: what changed in your practice, how you know, and what goes into next year's plan.
Which authorities require a professional development plan, and what they call it
Every responsible authority under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 sets its own recertification programme, so the word "PDP" means slightly different things across professions. The New Zealand hub explains how recertification works overall. This page is narrower: it is a bank of worked goals you can adapt. Use the table to find the term your authority uses, then jump to your profession.
| Authority | What it is called | What the plan has to do | Who sees it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical Council: General scope (Inpractice) | Professional development plan | One PDP each 12-month cycle, alongside 20 hours of CME (at least 2 on cultural safety), 10 hours of peer review, one audit and four collegial meetings | Collegial relationship provider; logged in the Inpractice ePortfolio |
| Medical Council: vocational scopes | Professional development plan | Informed by a structured conversation at least once a year; a working document revisited regularly; cultural safety and health equity embedded in all activities | Peer, colleague or employer; college or approved provider |
| Medical Council: PGY2 | Professional development plan | An acceptable PDP completed during PGY2, in accredited clinical attachments | Recorded on the practising certificate; Inpractice not required |
| Nursing Council | No PDP required | 60 hours of professional development in the previous three years, each logged against a pou, plus an example of practice for each pou | Senior nurse (or employer) verifies at audit |
| Midwifery Council | Recertification programme | Eight hours of continuing midwifery education and eight hours of professional activities a year, an annual emergency skills refresher, and a Midwifery Standards Review every three years | Midwifery Standards Review reviewers; recorded in MyMCANZ |
| Pharmacy Council | Learning goals | For a full practising year (2025/26 rules): two SMART learning goals set in the first three months, a critical reflection, peer group meetings, a cultural safety action and a keeping-up-to-date log | Verifier, who signs off the MyRecert portfolio |
| Dental Council | Professional development plan | Learning objectives based on your own assessment of learning needs, planned activities and an annual written reflection; no minimum hours | Professional peer, who confirms online each year |
| Physiotherapy Board | Professional development plan | Completed on the Board's Recertification Record each practising year, with peer review and three written reflections | Professional peer, who signs it off |
| Psychologists Board | Learning objectives and learning plan (CCP) | Review against the core competencies at the start of the year, set objectives and a plan, then critically review impact at year end | Supervisor; summarised in the CCP log book |
| Occupational Therapy Board | ePortfolio | A two-year process of critical self-reflection against the five competencies for registration and continuing practice | Nominated supervisor |
Your own profession's hub page covers the full programme rules: doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, oral health practitioners and allied and other professions.
The anatomy of a goal that survives review
Look across the authorities and the same building blocks keep appearing. The Dental Council's handbook asks for learning objectives "based on your assessment of your learning needs", activities to meet them and a written reflection. The Psychologists Board asks you to work out which competencies need attention, plan an activity for each objective and critically review the impact at year end. The Medical Council describes the vocational PDP as a working document that is revisited and updated regularly. Put together, a strong goal has seven parts. Every worked example below uses them.
Where the gap came from
Audit result, patient or colleague feedback, an incident, a new service, a change in standards, or a self-assessment against your competencies. Name it.
What you will be able to do
One sentence, written as a change in practice rather than "learn about". Specific enough that a peer can tell whether you did it.
Which standard it serves
A pou, a competence standard, a Dental Council standard, a college CPD category or a Medical Council statement. This shows relevance to your scope.
How you will learn
A mix: reading, a course, observation, peer discussion, audit, supervision or teaching. Two or three activities per goal is plenty.
What you will keep
De-identified audit data, certificates, notes from peer discussions, a changed template or protocol, a reflection. No patient-identifiable information.
When someone checks
A mid-point check and a close-out date tied to your collegial meeting, peer contact, verifier conversation or supervision session.
What changed
A short reflection: was the goal met, what is different for patients, what carries into next year. This is the part that shows your learning made a difference.
Keep it to one page
The Dental Council's own sample PDP is a one-pager. Short plans get used; long plans get filed and forgotten.
SMART, adapted for clinical goals
The Pharmacy Council suggests learning goals be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound, and that they be specific to you and relevant to your practice. SMART works for every profession if you read "measurable" generously. A clinical change cannot always be counted, but it can nearly always be observed: a re-audit, a peer watching you, a changed template, a drop in near misses, feedback from patients or whānau. If you cannot say how anyone would know the goal was met, it is not finished yet.
Where cultural safety and equity fit
Cultural safety is no longer a separate box for most professions. The Medical Council says cultural safety and a focus on health equity must be embedded within all recertification activities for vocationally registered doctors, and its cultural safety statement asks doctors to reflect on how their own views and biases affect clinical interactions. Inpractice asks General scope doctors for at least two hours of cultural safety CME a year. Pou one and two of the nursing standards are Māori health and cultural safety. Domain 1 of the pharmacist competence standards is Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and pharmacists log a cultural safety action each year. Physiotherapists write one reflection a year on Māori culture and its relation to their practice. How each programme frames this is compared in detail in our guide to cultural safety and Te Tiriti requirements. For a PDP, the practical rule is simple: at least one goal should look at outcomes or experience for Māori or another group your service underserves, and it should use your own data where you have it.
Weak goals rewritten as strong ones
Most weak PDP goals fail in one of four ways: they describe a topic instead of a change, they are a course booking in disguise, they have no link to evidence about your own practice, or nobody could tell whether they were met. Here are four common drafts, rewritten.
Weak
"Improve my knowledge of diabetes."
A topic, not a goal. No starting point, no measure, no date, and no link to anything you actually saw in your practice.
Strong
"By March, every patient on my list with HbA1c above 64 mmol/mol has a documented intensification plan or a recorded reason for not intensifying. Measured by re-audit of my list against the baseline audit done in September."
Weak
"Attend the cultural safety workshop in May."
An activity has been written down as if it were the goal. Attending proves attendance, nothing more.
Strong
"Identify one barrier that stops Māori patients completing follow-up in my clinic, change one thing about how I book or communicate, and compare did-not-attend rates by ethnicity before and after. The workshop is one of three activities."
Weak
"Keep up to date with clinical guidelines."
True of everyone, so it says nothing about you. A peer or verifier cannot sign off something this broad with confidence.
Strong
"Apply the updated anticoagulation guidance to my dispensing checks: build a three-question counselling prompt, use it on every new DOAC supply for three months, and review five de-identified interactions with my verifier."
Weak
"Do more CPD on communication."
No trigger, no target behaviour, no feedback loop. It could be "met" by watching one webinar.
Strong
"After two complaints this year about feeling rushed, use teach-back for every new treatment plan and collect ten patient feedback forms on clarity. Discuss the results and one recorded consultation with my peer by September."
Worked examples: doctors
The Medical Council builds a PDP into every recertification pathway, but how it is reviewed differs by scope. In the General scope, Inpractice lists the PDP as a topic for your four collegial meetings a year, and the Council's recertification policy says you should update your PDP after collegial meetings as appropriate. In a vocational scope, your PDP is shaped by the structured conversation and your college's programme. The RNZCGP's Te Whanake programme, for example, asks for at least four learning goals each year, at least one in each of its four categories: medical education, patient outcomes, reviewing practice, and cultural safety and equity. Preparing for that conversation is covered in our structured conversation guide.
- Learning need
- My annual audit showed that only about half of patients I started on an ACE inhibitor had renal function and potassium rechecked within the recommended window.
- Goal
- By the end of this Inpractice cycle, every patient I start on an ACE inhibitor or ARB has a recheck ordered, and the reason and date are in the notes before they leave.
- Standard link
- Inpractice audit and peer review requirements (one audit and 10 hours of peer review each cycle).
- Activities
- Read current local guidance on renin-angiotensin blockade monitoring; add a recall prompt to my consultation template; discuss two difficult cases at a peer review group meeting.
- Evidence
- Baseline and re-audit summaries (counts only), the revised template, peer review attendance record, short reflection.
- Review date
- Mid-point: second collegial meeting. Close-out: fourth collegial meeting, with the re-audit result.
- How it is reviewed
- Collegial relationship provider reads the re-audit and the reflection and comments in the ePortfolio. If the target was missed, the goal rolls forward with a new approach rather than being quietly dropped.
If you need ideas for the audit that feeds a goal like this, our medical audit topic bank lists topics drawn from complaint themes.
- Learning need
- Practice data show Māori patients on my list are less likely to have had cardiovascular risk assessment recorded than non-Māori patients of the same age.
- Goal
- Within 12 months, halve the gap in recorded cardiovascular risk assessment between Māori and non-Māori patients on my list, and record one change I have made to how I offer assessment.
- Standard link
- Medical Council statement on cultural safety and He Ara Hauora Māori; Inpractice cultural safety CME (at least two hours a year).
- Activities
- Two hours or more of cultural safety learning focused on bias in clinical decisions; kōrero with the practice's Māori health worker or local kaupapa Māori provider about barriers; trial offering assessment opportunistically at non-cardiac visits.
- Evidence
- Baseline and repeat ethnicity-split figures (aggregate only), CME record, notes of the kōrero (no names), reflection on what I noticed about my own assumptions.
- Review date
- Data rerun at six and twelve months.
- How it is reviewed
- Discussed at collegial meetings; the reflection focuses on my own practice and attitudes, as the cultural safety statement asks, rather than on describing Māori culture.
- Learning need
- Colleague and patient feedback rated me highly on clinical knowledge but lower on explaining options and involving whānau in decisions.
- Goal
- Over the next year, use a structured shared decision-making approach in every outpatient consultation where there is more than one reasonable option, and document the options discussed and who was present.
- Standard link
- Strengthened recertification category "reviewing and reflecting on practice"; Code of Rights, Right 6 (information) and Right 7 (informed choice and consent).
- Activities
- Communication skills workshop; observe a colleague known for good shared decision-making; have one clinic observed by a peer, with feedback.
- Evidence
- Feedback report summary, peer observation notes, sample of de-identified clinic letters showing options recorded, reflection.
- Review date
- Mid-year check with mentor; close-out at the next structured conversation.
- How it is reviewed
- Peer or employer reviews progress in the structured conversation, and the next feedback round tests whether patients notice the change.
- Medical education
- Update my approach to perimenopause care so that every patient asking about symptoms gets a documented discussion of options, risks and benefits. Evidence: course certificate, revised patient handout.
- Patient outcomes
- Reduce my repeat opioid prescriptions without a documented review by auditing my list and setting up review appointments. Evidence: before and after audit counts.
- Reviewing practice
- Present three de-identified cases with uncertain diagnosis at my peer group and record what I would change. Evidence: peer group record and reflection.
- Cultural safety and equity
- Review my own did-not-attend follow-up process by ethnicity and change one step that disadvantages Māori or Pacific patients. Evidence: aggregate data and a note of the change.
- Review date
- All four reviewed with my peer or mentor in the annual conversation.
- How it is reviewed
- The annual conversation looks back at last year's four goals and agrees next year's. Unmet goals are discussed honestly, not rewritten after the fact.
PGY2 doctors complete a PDP during PGY2 rather than enrolling in Inpractice. The structure above still works: a learning need from your attachments, a goal, a standard, activities and evidence, reviewed with your supervisors. If you are new to New Zealand practice, a cultural safety goal and a goal on New Zealand systems (the Code of Rights, prescribing and funding rules) are a sensible start.
Worked examples: nurses
The Nursing Council's recertification audit guidance does not require a PDP or learning goals. It asks for at least 450 practice hours and at least 60 hours of professional development relevant to your scope in the previous three years. Each PD activity is logged with its date, topic, hours and the pou it relates to, and you give an example of your practice for each pou, verified by a senior nurse (or your employer if there is no senior nurse where you work). PD certificates are not required. The guidance also says audit evidence must be authentic and must not be generated by AI (see our article on the nursing AI declaration). In October 2026 the Council has temporarily paused the collection of audit evidence while it reviews continuing competence, but the 450-hour and 60-hour requirements and your APC declaration still apply. A simple plan helps because it stops your 60 hours bunching on mandatory training and leaving pou one or two thin. If your employer's PDRP or appraisal asks for goals, the same format works there.
- Learning need
- When I checked my PD log against the six pou, I had very little under pou one, and I was not confident offering whānau involvement in discharge planning.
- Goal
- Within six months, routinely ask Māori patients early in their stay who they want involved in decisions and discharge, and record it in the care plan.
- Standard link
- Registered nurse standards of competence, pou one (Māori health) and pou five (manaakitanga and people-centredness).
- Activities
- Hospital Te Tiriti and tikanga workshop; shadow the Māori health service kaimahi for part of a shift; read about Te Whare Tapa Whā and use it in two care plans.
- Evidence
- PD log entries tagged to pou one, a short practice example written in my own words, note from the senior nurse who observed the change.
- Review date
- Checked at my annual appraisal; the practice example kept ready for audit.
- How it is reviewed
- Senior nurse confirms the example reflects my real practice, which is what the audit verification asks for.
- Learning need
- Two of my patients' venous leg ulcers had not improved in 12 weeks, and I realised I was not consistently measuring ankle-brachial pressure index before compression.
- Goal
- Become competent and signed off in ABPI assessment within four months, and complete a documented vascular assessment before compression on every new leg ulcer patient.
- Standard link
- Pou four (pūkengatanga and evidence-informed nursing practice).
- Activities
- Wound care study day; supervised ABPI assessments with the clinical nurse specialist until signed off; read current venous leg ulcer guidance.
- Evidence
- Competency sign-off, PD log entry with hours, de-identified audit of my next ten new leg ulcer assessments.
- Review date
- Sign-off by month four; audit reviewed at month six.
- How it is reviewed
- Clinical nurse specialist reviews the audit; result forms my pou four practice example.
Worked examples: midwives
The Midwifery Council's recertification programme looks back over your last three practising years. Each year includes eight hours of continuing midwifery education, eight hours of professional activities and an emergency skills refresher, and a Midwifery Standards Review takes place every three years (reviewers can shorten that interval), with your record kept in MyMCANZ. Goals do not have a fixed template, but a written plan makes your Midwifery Standards Review more useful because reviewers can see what you set out to do and what changed. The 2024 midwifery scope of practice describes midwives as responsible for culturally and clinically safe care, supported by reflective practice and ongoing professional development, which is a good anchor for goals.
- Learning need
- A debrief after a PPH transfer showed delays in calling for help and in preparing for transfer from our rural unit.
- Goal
- Within this practising year, lead two PPH drills with the unit team and cut the time from recognition to transfer request in drill conditions, using a shared checklist.
- Standard link
- Culturally and clinically safe care in the midwifery scope of practice; emergency skills component of recertification.
- Activities
- Annual emergency skills refresher; build a one-page PPH and transfer checklist with the unit and ambulance service; run two drills and debrief each.
- Evidence
- Refresher certificate, checklist, drill debrief notes with times, reflection on the real event (no identifying details).
- Review date
- After each drill; summarised for the next Midwifery Standards Review.
- How it is reviewed
- Discussed with reviewers at the Midwifery Standards Review; the drills may also be logged as professional activities, which the Council describes as activities that contribute to professional practice and quality improvement.
- Learning need
- Feedback forms from Pacific families said visits felt rushed and that extended family were not welcomed at appointments.
- Goal
- Over six months, offer every family the choice of a longer first visit at home or a community venue, ask who they want present, and gather feedback from at least ten families.
- Standard link
- Culturally safe care and consulting and collaborating with women and whānau, both in the midwifery scope of practice; continuing midwifery education.
- Activities
- Learning session on the Fonofale model; peer discussion with a Pacific midwife colleague; change my booking template.
- Evidence
- Education hours logged, revised template, summary of feedback, reflection on what I assumed before and what I learnt.
- Review date
- Feedback reviewed at month six.
- How it is reviewed
- Brought to the Midwifery Standards Review alongside consumer feedback.
Worked examples: pharmacists
The Pharmacy Council's published requirements for the 2025/26 practising year asked a pharmacist practising the full year for two learning goals, set in the first three months and suggested to be SMART, plus one critical reflection on either a competence standard of their choice or a significant incident, two peer group meetings (a routine staff meeting does not count), one action towards cultural safety, a keeping-up-to-date activity log and two verifier conversations ending in sign-off. Pharmacists whose APC starts part-way through the year have reduced requirements (see our article on pro-rated CPD). Goals link to the 2023 Competence Standards for Aotearoa New Zealand Pharmacists, which are organised into seven domains, starting with Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
- Learning need
- Our near-miss log showed three DOAC dosing queries in two months that I only picked up at the final check.
- Goal
- By the end of the third quarter, check renal function and dose appropriateness on every new DOAC prescription I process, and counsel every new patient using a three-point prompt (dose, bleeding signs, missed doses).
- Standard link
- Domain 5, person-centred care and medicines management (monitoring for therapeutic efficacy and safety); domain 6, supply and administration (assessing prescriptions).
- Activities
- Read current anticoagulation guidance; build the counselling prompt; discuss two de-identified interventions at a peer group meeting.
- Evidence
- Near-miss counts before and after, the prompt card, peer group meeting record, notes in MyRecert.
- Review date
- First verifier conversation (planned for mid-year) and second verifier conversation before sign-off.
- How it is reviewed
- Verifier checks the goal was met and the evidence supports it before signing off the MyRecert portfolio.
- Learning need
- When I reflected on competence standard 1.1, I could not name one thing my pharmacy does to improve medicines access for Māori.
- Goal
- Within six months, identify the main reason Māori patients collect fewer repeat items than other patients in our pharmacy and test one change, such as reminder texts or a collection option through a kaupapa Māori provider.
- Standard link
- Domain 1, Te Tiriti o Waitangi (applying Te Tiriti to pharmacist practice); also supports the cultural safety action.
- Activities
- Cultural safety course; meet the local Māori health provider; review uncollected repeat data by ethnicity with the owner.
- Evidence
- Aggregate data before and after, notes of the meeting, the change made, critical reflection.
- Review date
- Data review at month six; discussed at the second verifier conversation.
- How it is reviewed
- Verifier reviews the goal and reflection; the cultural safety action is logged separately.
Worked examples: dentists and oral health practitioners
The Dental Council's recertification programme has no minimum hours. Each year you have and interact with a professional peer recorded with the Council, keep a PDP, take part in professional development activities, reflect in writing on your development and declare compliance, and your peer confirms online. The handbook asks you to review your PDP with your peer, ideally before you start the planned activities, make minor changes during the year and do a major review at the start of the next cycle. Keep the PDP, activity log, reflection and peer interaction records for at least three years. The cycle ends on 30 September for dentists and dental specialists and on 31 March for the other oral health professions.
- Learning need
- A growing share of my patients live with dementia, and I have had two appointments abandoned because of distress.
- Goal
- Before the end of this cycle, adapt my treatment planning for patients with dementia: involve the person and their whānau or attorney in planning, and use shorter, staged visits with a preventive focus.
- Standard link
- Dental Council professional standard 11 (keep your knowledge and skills up to date), which the handbook ties to the PDP requirement; treatment planning for patients with dementia is one of the handbook's own sample learning areas; Code of Rights, Right 7 (informed choice and consent).
- Activities
- Course on dental care for older people; clinical observation at a special care dentistry clinic; literature review on fluoride varnish and preventive regimes in dementia.
- Evidence
- Activity log with provider, date, location and hours (as the handbook asks), de-identified treatment plan template, written reflection.
- Review date
- Plan discussed with peer before starting; mid-cycle check; written reflection in the final months.
- How it is reviewed
- Professional peer discusses the reflection with me and confirms online; what I learnt feeds next cycle's PDP.
- Learning need
- I am not confident in recording soft tissue findings consistently or knowing when to escalate a lesion to the dentist.
- Goal
- Within this cycle, complete a documented soft tissue examination at every recall appointment, use clinical photography with consent where indicated, and follow a written escalation pathway agreed with the dentist.
- Standard link
- Dental Council Standards Framework; record keeping is one of the handbook's own example learning areas.
- Activities
- Oral medicine e-learning; clinical photography workshop; case review of three de-identified lesions with the supervising dentist.
- Evidence
- Certificates, escalation pathway document, audit of 20 recall notes for soft tissue recording, written reflection.
- Review date
- Audit done mid-cycle; cycle closes 31 March.
- How it is reviewed
- Peer reviews the audit and reflection before confirming.
Worked examples: physiotherapists
The Physiotherapy Board asks every registered physiotherapist holding an APC to complete each practising year a PDP on the Board's Recertification Record template signed off by a professional peer, a peer review, and three written reflections: one on Māori culture and its relation to their practice, and two from the cultural, ethical or professional categories. CPD is measured as 100 hours over three practising years, with no annual minimum. Around 5% of physiotherapists holding a current APC are randomly selected for audit each year. The Board's standards framework, which includes the Māori cultural safety and competence standard (He kawa whakaruruhau ā matatau Māori) and the physiotherapy health records standard, gives you specific standards to link goals to.
- Learning need
- My peer review found my notes rarely recorded the options discussed and the patient's consent to the treatment plan.
- Goal
- Within three months, every initial assessment note records the working diagnosis, options discussed, the patient's choice and consent, and outcome measures to recheck.
- Standard link
- Physiotherapy health records standard; informed consent standard.
- Activities
- Re-read both standards; record keeping course; adjust my note template; second peer review of ten notes.
- Evidence
- Peer review results before and after (de-identified), revised template, CPD log entries.
- Review date
- Second peer review at month four.
- How it is reviewed
- Professional peer signs off the PDP on the Recertification Record; one of my professional reflections covers what I changed.
A goal like this can use any good record keeping learning. Our Clinical Documentation and Record Keeping course is one option; whatever you choose, keep the certificate with your CPD log.
- Learning need
- Writing last year's Māori culture reflection, I realised my goal-setting with patients rarely included their wider whānau or wellbeing beyond function.
- Goal
- Over six months, use a holistic framework such as Te Whare Tapa Whā in goal-setting with Māori patients who want it, and ask each patient whether they want whānau involved.
- Standard link
- He kawa whakaruruhau ā matatau Māori: Māori cultural safety and competence standard; cultural safety and cultural competence standard.
- Activities
- Te reo and tikanga course; supervision session with a Māori physiotherapist or cultural adviser; trial and review with five patients.
- Evidence
- Course record, supervision notes, Māori culture reflection.
- Review date
- Reflection written before peer sign-off.
- How it is reviewed
- Peer reads the reflection and confirms the PDP; the reflection doubles as the required Māori culture reflection.
Worked examples: psychologists, occupational therapists and other allied practitioners
Other authorities use different words but the same logic. The Psychologists Board's Continuing Competence Programme starts by 1 April each year: you review your practice against the Board's core competencies with your supervisor, write learning objectives for the competencies that need attention, plan an activity for each, then critically review the impact at year end, summarising both reviews in a log book kept for at least three years. The Occupational Therapy Board's ePortfolio is a two-year process of critical self-reflection against its five competencies, overseen by a supervisor you nominate.
- Learning need
- Start-of-year review with my supervisor identified that my suicide risk formulations rely on checklists and are not well documented as a plan.
- Goal
- By the end of the CCP year, write a collaborative safety plan with every client assessed at elevated risk, documented in the format agreed with my team, and reviewed at each contact.
- Standard link
- The Board's prescribed core competencies flagged in the start-of-year review, plus cultural competence where whānau are involved in safety planning.
- Activities
- Workshop on collaborative safety planning; case review of four de-identified files in supervision; read current guidance on suicide prevention practice.
- Evidence
- Log book entries for the start and end reviews, workshop record, supervision notes.
- Review date
- Supervision each month; end-of-year critical review before 31 March.
- How it is reviewed
- Supervisor joins the end-of-year review of impact, as the CCP asks.
- Learning need
- Self-reflection in my ePortfolio showed my paediatric assessment skills are behind my adult practice after a change of role.
- Goal
- Over the two-year ePortfolio period, become independent in two standardised paediatric assessments used in my service, and adapt my home-visit approach to work with whānau as partners.
- Standard link
- The Board's competencies for registration and continuing practice; ePortfolio self-reflection.
- Activities
- Assessment training; joint visits with a senior paediatric occupational therapist; regular supervision; reading on family-centred practice.
- Evidence
- ePortfolio reflections, training certificates, supervisor comments.
- Review date
- Supervision checkpoints through the two-year period.
- How it is reviewed
- Supervisor has oversight of the ePortfolio and comments on progress.
Dietitians, medical laboratory scientists, medical radiation technologists, optometrists, podiatrists, chiropractors, osteopaths, paramedics, psychotherapists and other HPCA Act professions can use the same seven-part structure. Check your own authority's programme on the allied health recertification hub and swap in the competencies or standards your board publishes.
How to review your PDP and close the loop
A plan is only as good as its review. Across the programmes, the reviewer is a named person: a collegial relationship provider, a professional peer, a verifier, a senior nurse or a supervisor. Use this cycle every year.
- Gather evidence of need
Pull together last year's reflection, any audit or feedback results, incidents or complaints, and a quick self-check against your standards. The Psychologists Board and Dental Council both build the plan from this kind of assessment.
- Draft two to four goals
Use the seven parts above. Make sure at least one goal tackles cultural safety or equity and at least one is grounded in your own practice data.
- Share the draft early
Show it to your reviewer before you start. The Dental Council's handbook says to review the PDP with your peer, preferably before the planned activities begin. Pharmacists set goals in the first three months.
- Do the activities and log them as you go
Record each activity when it happens, not from memory at renewal. Note the date, topic, hours and which goal or standard it serves.
- Check in at the mid-point
Use a collegial meeting, verifier conversation or supervision session. Change the plan openly if your work has changed; the Medical Council calls the PDP a working document.
- Write the close-out reflection
For each goal: met, partly met or not met; what changed for patients; how you know; what carries forward. Keep it de-identified and honest.
- Get it signed or confirmed
Your peer, verifier or provider confirms, then you declare at APC renewal. Keep the whole record for at least the period your authority requires.
Changing a goal mid-year because your role changed is normal and should be recorded. Rewriting a goal at the end so it matches what you happened to do is not, and it undermines the honesty of your recertification declaration. A partly met goal with a frank reflection is stronger evidence than a perfect plan written backwards.
If you are selected for audit, your plan, activity log and reflection are the core of what is checked. Our guide to building an audit-ready portfolio covers how to organise the whole record across authorities.
Self-check: would your goal pass?
Run each goal in your draft through these questions. If any answer is no, revise before you share it.
- It names where the need came from (audit, feedback, incident, self-assessment or a change in standards).
- It describes a change in what you do, not a topic you will read about.
- It names at least one standard, pou, domain, competency or college category.
- A peer could tell from your evidence whether it was met.
- It has a review date tied to a real meeting with your reviewer.
- The evidence contains no patient-identifiable information.
- Across the plan, at least one goal addresses cultural safety or equity.
"Complete 20 hours of CME this year." Is this a goal?
My goal was not met because I changed jobs. Have I failed recertification?
Can I reuse last year's goal?
Is an online course on its own enough for a goal?
Frequently asked questions
How many goals should a New Zealand PDP have?
Most programmes do not set a number. Two to four well-evidenced goals is a sensible range for a year. Some programmes do set a number: the Pharmacy Council's 2025/26 requirements asked for two learning goals for a full practising year, and the RNZCGP's Te Whanake programme asks for at least four, one in each of its categories.
Do nurses in New Zealand need a professional development plan?
The Nursing Council's recertification audit guidance does not require one. Nurses need at least 450 practice hours and 60 hours of professional development in the previous three years, each PD activity linked to a pou, and a practice example for each pou verified by a senior nurse. A short plan still helps you spread your PD across all the pou, and your employer's PDRP or appraisal may ask for goals.
Who reviews my PDP?
It depends on your authority. General scope doctors discuss it with their collegial relationship provider, vocational doctors in their structured conversation, oral health practitioners and physiotherapists with their professional peer, pharmacists with their verifier, and psychologists and occupational therapists with their supervisor.
Can I include patient details as evidence?
No. Use aggregate audit counts, de-identified notes and your own reflections. The Dental Council's handbook, for example, says written reflections must not include confidential patient information. Keep identifiable material in the clinical record, not your portfolio.
How long should I keep my PDP and evidence?
The Dental Council and the Psychologists Board both ask for at least three years. Other authorities set their own periods, so check your programme. Keeping at least one full recertification cycle plus the current year is a safe habit.
Does a cultural safety goal have to be about Māori patients?
Not always, but in Aotearoa it usually should include them, because Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori health equity sit at the centre of most authorities' standards. A good goal looks at your own attitudes and your own patients' outcomes, and it can also cover Pacific peoples, disabled people or any group your service underserves.
Can I use courses from any provider in my PDP?
Check your own programme, because the rules differ. The Dental Council, for example, says activities do not need to be verifiable or delivered by approved providers, and the Nursing Council's audit guidance does not ask for PD certificates. Choose learning that fits your goal, keep the certificate and reflect on how it changed your practice.
What if my peer or verifier will not sign off my plan?
Ask what is missing and fix it: usually it is evidence that the goal was met or a reflection that is too thin. If you cannot resolve it, contact your authority before your APC renewal rather than declaring something you cannot support.
Primary sources
19 official documents
- Medical Council of New Zealand: Recertification and professional development
- Medical Council of New Zealand: Recertification requirements for doctors practising in the General scope
- Medical Council of New Zealand: Strengthened recertification requirements for vocationally registered doctors (November 2019)
- Medical Council of New Zealand: Policy on recertification
- Medical Council of New Zealand: Cultural safety standards and He Ara Hauora Māori
- bpacnz Inpractice: Frequently asked questions
- bpacnz Inpractice: Collegial meetings
- Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners: Te Whanake requirements
- Nursing Council of New Zealand: Continuing competence
- Nursing Council of New Zealand: Recertification audit guidance for enrolled and registered nurses (version 2.0, October 2025)
- Nursing Council of New Zealand: Registered nurse scope of practice and standards of competence (2025 guidance)
- New Zealand Gazette: Midwifery Scope of Practice and Qualifications Notice 2024
- Pharmacy Council: Requirements for the practising year 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026
- Pharmacy Council: Competence Standards for Aotearoa New Zealand Pharmacists (2023)
- Dental Council: Your recertification programme practitioner handbook
- Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand: Recertification programme and audit
- Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand: Physiotherapy Standards Framework
- New Zealand Psychologists Board: Continuing Competence Programme
- Occupational Therapy Board of New Zealand: ePortfolio policy