Individual Development Plan Templates and Resources

Individual Development Plans (IDPs) are an important tool to promote the professional development of doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in the biomedical sciences [1,2]. Emerging data suggest that similar benefits exist for early career faculty who use IDPs, particularly when implemented in the context of a comprehensive mentoring program [3]. While these studies have specifically examined the benefit of IDPs for early career investigators, strategic planning has clear merits for faculty across their career lifetime. 

CRTEC has developed flexible IDP templates for trainees, clinical faculty, and research faculty. The COVID-19 pandemic, research slowdowns, and critical reagent shortages have deeply affected career progression and development. It is important to consider and acknowledge these disruptions when developing professional goals and plans, so CRTEC has also created an IDP cover sheet that provides a few prompts to keep in mind.

1. Tsai JW, Vanderford NL, Muindi F. Optimizing the utility of the individual development plan for trainees in the biosciences. Nat Biotechnol. 2018;36:552–3. 
2. Hobin JA, Clifford PS, Dunn BM, Rich S, Justement LB. Putting PhDs to work: career planning for today’s scientist. CBE Life Sci Educ. 2014;13:49–53. 
3. Schweitzer JB, Rainwater JA, Ton H, Giacinto RE, Sauder CAM, Meyers FJ. Building a comprehensive mentoring academy for schools of health. J Clin Transl Sci. 2019;3:211–7.