How to Prepare a Medical CV
Your Medical CV as a Critical Job Search Tool
Your medical CV is an especially important tool for showcasing your expertise and professional experience in your specialty. Be sure it fully outlines your experience, training and certifications.
Download a sample Physician CV template here.
Your medical CV must include the following:
- Name and Degree (MD or DO)
- Address
- Contact information, including email address and phone number
Education and Training
First, list all formal educational training, including baccalaureate and post-baccalaureate schooling. Additionally, list any internship, residency and fellowship programs. If you have any other degrees, such as a Masters or PhD, include them in this section.
Professional Experience
Next, list your professional experience in reverse chronological order, from most recent job to earliest. How you format this professional experience is the key difference between a Medical CV and a standard professional resume. Medical CVs do not include descriptions of positions; instead, they include only the following information:
- Hospital or healthcare facility name and location
- Specific dates of employment
- Job title and department
- Residency, fellowship or internship details (if the position was part of your formal training)
Licensure and Certifications
Following experience, include all state licensures, active or inactive, including the year the license was issued, not the year it expires. Also include any board certifications in specialties or subspecialties, along with the year of certification. It’s important to list every certification because different hospitals and groups are looking for different backgrounds.
Professional Memberships
List all professional associations, including dates of membership and titles held within that organization (if applicable).
Honors
Include any professional honors you have received regardless of how long ago you received them, including dates.
Additional Accomplishments
This area enables you to show a bit more of what you do outside the hospital, including volunteer work, community involvement or other activities. Keep this section in the same concise format that you use throughout your medical CV.
Research and Publications
List any research, publications or other projects you’ve done, using standard Modern Language Association (MLA) format. Be prepared to provide samples or copies of any work you list.
Common Medical CV Mistakes to Avoid
- Listing job experience incorrectly. Make sure to list your previous jobs in reverse chronological order (last to first).
- Using incomplete dates for past positions. Years alone are not enough; list both months and years. If exact dates are available, list those as well.
- Failing to explain gaps in your professional experience. An employer will notice any gap in your job history. It’s best to always explain a gap, including whether it was for personal or professional reasons, in the cover letter accompanying your medical CV.
- Omitting key information. List all certifications, licenses, training, and education even if you received them a long time ago or you think they don’t apply to the position. Sometimes an obscure certification or training course can help you stand out from the competition — thereby landing the position you seek.
By including all of these items on your medical CV, you give hiring managers all the information they need to determine whether you could be a potential fit for their open emergency medicine position.