Medical Physics: Skills Development and Review Programme 2019/20

This document presents a skills development review from a Medical Physics program, evaluating transferable skills such as time management, teamwork, communication, and IT literacy. It assesses the student's confidence levels at the start and present, identifying experiences that contributed to skill development. The review also covers self-assessment, interpersonal skills, career progression, and the use of resources like LinkedIn and Jobs.ac.uk. The student reflects on training opportunities, including simulation tests and group work, and suggests incorporating internships and debate programs to enhance practical experience and communication skills. References to relevant research articles are included to support the discussion.

Development Review (PDR) 2019/20
Name:
Programme of study: Medical Physics
Skills Development
Below is a table listing various transferable skills that we feel are necessary for being effective in any
academic and working environment. For each skill please rate how confident you think you were at
the start of your studies and how confident you feel now.
Use a score from 0-10 where 0 is you feel you had/have no level of skill and 10 is extremely
confident in own ability, no training required.
Transferable skill to develop Skill rating at start / 10 Skill rating now / 10
Time management 8 8
Team work 6 9
Work independently 5 7
Oral communication 4 8
Written communication 5 8
Visual communication 6 8
IT literacy – Word Processing 2 9
IT literacy – Spreadsheets 2 6
IT literacy – Visual Presentation software 3 6
Note taking 5 8
Data management 4 6
Now, for each of the same skills, please identify one aspect of your studies or other experiences to
date that have helped you develop this skill effectively.
Transferable skill to develop Example
Time management Prioritizing the responsibilities and executing
according to designed schedule.
Team work Working effectively in team to achieve goals
Work independently Uses evidence from peer-reviewed sources
Oral communication Communication with co-workers
Written communication Proof reading the contents
Visual communication Seeking support from co-workers in case of difficulty
in understanding
IT literacy – Word Processing Proof reading the contents
IT literacy - Spreadsheets Using evidence from internet sources
IT literacy – Visual Presentation software Practice and cross-checking with co-workers
Note taking Practice during tutor sessions
Data management Uses evidence from peer-reviewed sources
Were there any other skills you identified at the start of your studies that you wanted to develop,
specific to your studies or otherwise? Did you develop these effectively and how? Were they any
factors you felt prevented you from undertaking skills development while studying?
Self-assessment and interpersonal skills are two important areas which I have identified at the start
of my studies. In particular, self-assessment provide comprehension for the acquired responsibilities
and thus helps in identifying the gap in knowledge. Likewise, interpersonal skills are helpful because
they provide the opportunity to express, understand, and exchange information. These two skills are

important for appropriate responsibilities accomplishment and achievement of goals. Furthermore,
they also help in framing partnership with co-workers as well as with external agencies, which in
turn raises the knowledge level (Gillis, Morris & Ridgway 2015).
Yes, I have developed these skills effectively by virtue of practice and taking feedback from my co-
workers. As a result of this, I have experienced confidence while working as a team member and
contributing my part to achieve the objectives. As such, there are no barriers that prevent me from
undertaking the development of above-mentioned skills. However, I noted that having the excess of
work burden often prevents my focus on taking feedback and improving interpersonal or self-
assessment skills.
Career Progression
Please answer the following as Yes or No
1. Do you have an up to date CV prepared in a UK format?
Yes
2. Has your CV ever been reviewed by someone else for feedback, prior to submission for
employment?
Yes
3. Have you ever prepared a cover letter to accompany a UK-based job application?
No
4. Do you intend to seek employment or another opportunity within the UK after completing
your studies?
Yes
Which of the following resources, if any, do you intend to use to help identify opportunities and/or
advance your career? Select all that apply
LinkedIn ✓ Research Gate
Facebook ✓ Generic recruitment web sites
Twitter ✓ University’s careers service
Jobs.ac.uk
What other resources do you intend to use to help identify career or other opportunities?
LinkedIn is a suitable source for finding information (Sathick & Venkat 2015). I believe portals like
Jobs.ac.uk are suitable for finding job opportunities. Also, within the workplace environment, the
exchange of information which co-workers as well as with the other professionals help in identifying
career opportunities.

Reflection
Thinking about your time at the university relating to your current studies, what training and
development opportunities did you identify and / or take part in that you felt would be useful to
you? What did you learn from these and how do you feel about this? Were there any
opportunities for development you feel should have been provided by the university directly that
should have been?
During my current studies and training program, there were opportunities to participate in the
simulation test and real-time practice with clinical settings. These opportunities help in gaining
experience which I believe will be useful during future responsibilities assignment. Furthermore,
working in a group offers benefits such as (i) review support from co-workers; (ii) improvement in
verbal and written communication skills; (iii) cooperating within a team; and (iv) effective
management of information. These are the important achievement which is attributed to the
curriculum of my current studies as well as training and development opportunities. Above all,
learning these skills makes me confident and motivated to undertake similar responsibilities in my
career. In addition to this, I would also recommend that the university curriculum must provide
opportunities for the internship in collaboration with external agencies. For example, internship in
clinical settings, healthcare institutions, and medical physics oriented research institute could
provide real-time experience to the students (Williams et al. 2016). Certainly, these opportunities
will not only improve the CV but will also help the students to perform appropriately and effectively
in their future responsibilities. Likewise, to improve the communication skills there should be a
session of group discussion and debate programs (Block et al. 2018). Such opportunities can help in
learning effective communication style, how to argue and convince the audience, and use evidence
has to support this statement. Since these practices are directly associated with healthcare and
medical responsibilities, they can enhance the competency level.
References:
Block, L., Wang, K., Gao, C. C., Wu, A. W., & Feldman, L. S. (2018). There's a Lot More to Being a
Physician: Insights From an Intensive Clinical Shadowing Experience in Internal Medicine. Teaching
and learning in medicine, 30(3), 266-273.
Gillis, A. E., Morris, M. C., & Ridgway, P. F. (2015). Communication skills assessment in the final
postgraduate years to established practice: a systematic review. Postgraduate medical
journal, 91(1071), 13-21.
Sathick, J., & Venkat, J. (2015). A generic framework for extraction of knowledge from social web
sources (social networking websites) for an online recommendation system. The International
Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 16(2). 20-25.
Williams, N., Hussain, H., Manojkumar, P. and Thapa, A., 2016. An evaluation of a STEM summer
undergraduate research internship scheme: student-perceived learning gains. New Directions in the
Teaching of Physical Sciences, 1(11). 1-10.