Free Soar Review (Current Capacity) Essay Sample

Individual Development Plan

Individual Development Plan (IDP): Medical Practitioner
As part of my individual development plan, assessing my current capacity is equally crucial to understand the areas that need to be changed, improved, and furnished to assist me improve my current capacity. Additionally, developing certain skills that will improve one’s potential is a key area that needs to be assessed. Prior to developing my individual plan, I plan to assess the current capacity using a model known as the SOAR model. SOAR is an acronym that stands for Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results (University of Minnesota, 2013).

Professional Goals/Motivations
Primarily, one of the key goals I Seek to establish is improving the services that I offer within the organization. Primarily, making oneself aware of the various technological advancements that can facilitate the growth of the outpatient clinic is the primary objective of the individual development planning. Understanding the various technological advancements within the field is a primary development objective. Changes in technology are quickly taking over the world. The need to understand various information management systems is vital for the success of any given organization. Currently, I possess a negligible knowledge of information systems used within the healthcare context. As such, the primary individual development strategy is to ensure that I equip myself with the necessary knowledge to manage information well.
Secondly, leadership skill development is equally vital to the success of any given organization. Improving my leadership qualities is a primary objective that I hope to achieve within a year. Taking a leadership online class is the next step I am taking towards achieving my proposed self-development goal. Arguably, one of the ways through which leadership would come in handy to the clinic is that it will facilitate easier management of the various staff and challenges that the clinic deals with. Additionally, leadership skills are also essential for career advancements, as I do not plan to work within the clinic for the rest of my life.
Thirdly, I need to improve my capacity to delegate roles. Being a perfectionist, people argue that I am obsessed with handling tasks so that I can do them in the best manner possible. Although this might be a strength, it also largely compromises my capacity to handle the various tasks that have been entrusted to me on a daily basis. For instance, obsessing about the perfect execution of one task hinders me from dealing with other tasks leading them to pile up. Acquiring the necessary knowledge and ability to delegate is a goal to which I accord a lot of attention.
Finally, another individual goal set is improved networking. In my field and profession, most people argue that networking is not as crucial as in other industries. However, in the healthcare industry, networking with professionals within the same field is vital to the success of any given organization. Joining a medical practitioner networking club is a viable option that I am willing to pursue to improve my skills and knowledge in the field (Smith, 2014). One can know a number of medical practitioners that might come in handy sometime in the future by joining a networking club. Additionally, one can meet with people in the same profession, sharing information and knowledge about the advancements in the world of medicine.

Focused IDP Objectives and Actions Steps

Objectives
Technological knowhow improvement
Improvement of leadership Skills
Delegation
Networking
Action Steps
Technological knowhow
The first step to improving my technological know-how is ensuring that I research the various databases that exist pertaining to medical administration. Afterward, understanding how the databases and information systems work will be the second step. Thirdly, I plan on visiting a number of hospitals, one every two weeks that have an information system or familiar database to benchmark and see how each of the information systems improves the administration of healthcare services. Finally, after assessing a number of databases and benchmarking them, I plan to purchase one database system or have the clinic purchase one that can be used within the veteran’s community-based clinic.

Improvement of leadership Skills

For this objective, I plan to teach myself some leadership skills by purchasing books that discuss the issue. Additionally, due to my busy schedule, I plan to start an online leadership course that I will pursue part time. This way, besides acquiring the knowledge, I have also acquired the certification proving that I am a certified leader. An online course will improve my leadership skills and my professional qualifications. Additionally, I will also look for a leader in the healthcare industry to be my mentor. Mentorship is a crucial stage for any leader to undergo. I plan to start my online course in September 2015. I am currently raising the money to pursue the course.

Delegation

Delegation is a hard habit to acquire in my case. However, the first step I plan to take is buying a variety of books that allow one to learn how to delegate their roles to other people. Books are one of the ways through which one can teach them to acquire skills and change their behaviors. Being so, I plan to add a few books about delegation on my home library. Secondly, at the beginning of every week, each within the clinic will be assigned an individual role and given the complete control without my interference. If each of the individuals was assigned their roles and promised rewards or punishment for both achievement and failure respectively, the staff would be responsible for the quality of their tasks and the speed of completion as well.

Networking

The first step to improving my networking skills is trying to reconnect with former classmates. I will organize a reunion party for our medical school class as a way to reconnect with people who are within the same field. This way, I will be able to establish some new contacts. Secondly, I plan to join a networking club for medical practitioners within my area of residence in the next three months. Joining a networking club is easy since one slowly improves their communication skills and simultaneously exposes one to new information and knowledge pertaining to the field of medicine and new healthcare strategies.

References

Smith, S. (November 11, 2014). Admin Admired: Creating Your Professional Development Plan. Retrieved on February 24, 2015 from http://www.amanet.org/training/articles/admin-admired-creating-your-professional-development-plan.aspx