updating drop down menu with new values

[Billyboswell]

Hi,
This may be really straightforward yet i'm new to php programming.
I have a form with various fields, which when submitted will add the value of the fields to a database...
Okay,
One of the fields is a drop down list of names where the user can select one or more than one of the names. Usually any name they require will be in the list but occasionally it will be necessary to add a new name to be selected.
Okay I have a second file to add more names to the database yet i'd like this to be available from the first php page and the form there.
I could trigger it as a link from the first php page, yet this would not update the drop down list until i refresh the page. I would be worried about losing data in the other fields if I do this.
Is there any easy way of doing this?

thanks in advance

[The_Chancer]

Instead of refreshing the page - submit it onto itself, and repopulate the form with the details already given...