Personal development plans and self-directed learning for healthcare professionals: are they evidence based?

The UK chief medical officer's recommendations for the re-licensing and performance management of doctors will mean a move from a formative towards a summative role for appraisal and its adjunct, the personal development plan. Where does this leave medical educators trying to promote reflective learning? It is taken for granted that self-directed learning is the sine qua non of all adult learning. But is it? This review re-evaluates self-directed learning and its corollary, the personal development plan, in the light of the chief medical officer's report, seeking the evidence behind today's accepted educational practice. It discovers a reality which challenges assumptions long enshrined in medical education.