Elizabeth Openshaw 
Is your medical CV giving you acute hypertension? Lower your stress levels by following our hacks on how to create that perfect medical CV
Diagnose the issue
You're a medical professional and on a day-to-day basis you know exactly what you're doing. Treat the patient, administer prescriptions, save a life… you know, that sort of thing.
While most CVs can be viewed as straightforward, medical CVs are more complex. Whether you're looking to craft a doctor CV, a CV for a medical graduate, or a CV for any other type of healthcare professional, you might find your heart rate increasing and your pulse rate shooting up when you contemplate how to compile a medical CV.
Fear not, help is at hand and you can rest easy, directing your bedside manner to where it's most needed… with your patients.
A matter of life and death
This is probably rather over-dramatic, as creating a medical CV obviously isn't a matter of life and death. However, it can be a matter of whether you land that dream role or not, which certainly makes all the difference as you journey deeper into your medical career. With many similarities to academic CVs, a medical CV is more elaborate and generally longer than the average CV.
The vital signs
First off, grab the attention of recruiters with a pithy CV headline and a professional summary that sums up your skills and really shouts about your strengths and ambitions. Scan through the job advert, picking out key words and phrases that you can incorporate, and adopt a formal style - usually third person without pronouns as shown in the medical CV examples below.
Medical CV examples
Two medical CV examples of professional summaries can be viewed below.
Here is a GP CV example:
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A dedicated and compassionate GP, with a commitment to the development and improvement of standards within medical practice. Consistently seeking to develop own professional expertise. Demonstrates strong clinical skills, with the proven ability to assess and investigate patient symptoms and make decisions on the most appropriate treatment. Trustworthy and diligent, possesses the drive to deliver the highest standard of patient care. Combines a natural flair for working calmly under pressure with the motivational skills necessary to ensure the team pulls together at all times. |
This one can be adapted for nurses and healthcare practitioners:
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A perceptive, adaptable and resilient Healthcare Practitioner / Nurse, passionate about delivering the highest standard of patient care while building cohesive teams using effective communication and motivation. Displays a calm and professional attitude during emergencies and flourishes in challenging environments.
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Health check-up
The career summary section of a medical CV needs in-depth investigation. Too little information and the reader won't get a sense of what you've achieved and what you can bring to the table. Too much information can overload the person viewing your medical CV, which means they might give up at the first hurdle, rather than trawl through reams of waffle.
You may possess a large variety of professional experience, including numerous posts that you held for a short while. This is especially true for a junior doctor CV, where you're working your way up from Clinical Assistant to Senior House Officer (SHO) to Clinical Fellow. Because of this, do state the months as well as the years you were in each role, to show your steady progression and account for all the time periods.
Education and CPD
Providing comprehensive detail of your education is vital. List each qualification, educational establishment, and year completed. Then place it under the professional profile if you're newly qualified, or after the career summary section if your most recent qualifications were over five years ago.
As part of the medical profession, you'll be expected to be continually learning and a lot of value is placed on this by prospective employers. So the continued professional development (CPD) part of your medical CV needs to be out and proud. State each course / research / qualification clearly and concisely, remembering to include where each was undertaken and the year it was completed.
Extra sections
Extra sections on a medical CV can include specialist clinical skills, research, teaching, professional registration, awards, academic presentations, audits, and conferences - only you will know which sections are relevant to your career and your aspirations. Create a new sub-heading for each section and present the details below concisely and consistently. A list format, rather than narrative, is usually best, and dates will need to be added too.
As a medical professional, the chances are that you possess extensive qualifications, training, and experience. Check out how to list publications and certifications on your medical CV in the most up-to-date manner. Aim to order them logically, by setting them out according to the value they contribute and how relevant they are to your target position.
While you might have decades of experience, it's wise to keep your medical CV succinct and tightly written. The length of a standard CV is two pages, but a doctor CV can run to four or five pages as it's accepted that a lot of training and experience needs to be included.
Another section required is detail of any professional registrations, such as your GMC or BMA number. These can be listed under a section entitled Professional Memberships.
And the prognosis is…
If the signs remain critical, you still need help and you're labouring over what to do, then the scientific evidence is clear. You need a systematic review, so let us prescribe you a solution in the form of our free CV review service.