This page is intended as a guide to writing a professional CV for those in the medical profession. The career information on this page will be constantly updated and aims to be useful to medical students, physicians, doctors, nurses etc..
To write a good CV you have to effectively analyze your skills and achievements and then present relevant information about yourself in a positive way. Focus on matching your abilities and work experience to the employers selection criteria and requirements.
Once completed a well written CV can be used as a application to a advertised job or as part of speculative approach to potential employers. It is also a useful resource to refer to when completing application forms.
How to write a Medical CV
Keep it short
CVs are recommended to be no longer than two pages. However due to the nature of the industry, a medical resume can be longer, but still try to keep it short, concise and avoid inserting irrelevant information.
Focus your CV on the vacancy
Make sure your CV is targeted and written for the post you are applying for. From reading the job advert create a list of key competencies the recruiter is looking for. Avoid generic statements or vague assertions of what you can do, instead give specific detailed and accounts of your relevant skill sets and if possible back them up with evidence.
Mention your communication skills
Working in the healthcare profession can be a demanding job. It requires excellent communication skills as you will be working as part of a team and also liaising with patients and their relatives.
Information to include in a medical CV:-
- GMC registration status, mention if provisional, limited, or full registration.
- Specific hospitals or surgeries you have worked at, include positions and dates.
- Any publications.
- Medical defence union.
- Clinical competence and experience.
- Your career objectives.
- Academic qualifications.
- Any teaching experience.
- Any special IT skills.
- Foreign languages.
- Management or supervisory experience.
- Interpersonal relationships with patients.
- Care management.
- Administration .
- Counselling.
- Teamwork with doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.
- Research.
- Health and safety practices.
- Emergency assessments.
Work experience
Consider showing your experience and achievements in two separate sections, for instance relevant experience and also additional experience. You can also break it down further by organising your experience under specific headings such as:
- Research
- Supervising
- Teaching
- Administration
Provide evidence of your achievements
You need to do this to gain credibility with recruiters and convince the selectors that you have the full range of skills that they are looking for. Do this showing your best and most relevant examples of what you have done, where you did it and also when.
More tips on writing a medical CV:
- Make sure your resume clear, logical, relevant and that key information is easy to find.
- Do not underline words, it may confuse an employers scanning software and therefore exclude you from any search results of their CV databases.
- After completing your initial draft go over it again and redraft it to make sure it reads right.
- Write your medical CV from the recruiters point of view.
- Have a competent friend proof read the final document.
- Use a spell checker to find and rectify spelling mistakes.
- Use confident language and a positive tone.
- Make sure your CV is neat and tidy.
- Regularly review and update your CV, keep it fresh by adding any new skills or training you have acquired.
Medical CV template examples:
Medical receptionist CV template
Related medical degrees
Online degrees
Personal statements