In this article, we will talk all about writing a medical doctor resume. You will get all the answers to your questions and also some tips to ensure you are able to write a medical doctor resume that gets you your dream job.
This guide is helpful for all medical doctors, whether you are more into internal medicine or pediatrics or dermatology or neurology or any other branch.
Guidelines for a job winning resume
There are certain guidelines you should follow to ensure your medical doctor resume meets the professional resume criteria and increases your chances of getting the job you want.
- Always use third person, past tense
- Use as many action verbs and numbers as possible
- Avoid using pronouns to ensure formal tone of language
- Use bullet points
- Save your resume in simple document format that is compatible with various systems and mediums (Microsoft document, PDF document)
- Label your medical doctor resume in simple manner i.e. Your Name Resume OR Your Name CV
Preparation for doctor resume
Like any other preparation (for purchase of products or going out and trying new restaurants), writing a medical doctor resume requires some background research.
You need to research your role, job duties, job description, industry and everything in between. This will help you understand the industry better and also update you on the current job market and the industry landscape.
This in turn, will help you figure out how you can stand out as a candidate in your medical doctor resume.
The format
There are various professional formats that you can choose from. If you have referred to various medical doctor resume examples, you may have noticed various layouts of medical doctor resume.
- Functional: Functional resume format focuses on skills and education/training. It is suitable for the freshers and recent graduates.
- Reverse chronological: This format focuses on the experience section which is why it is suitable for the seasoned professionals with extensive work history.
- Combination: Combination of the above two formats, focuses both on the skills and experience, suitable for professionals looking for a career change.
Trivia
(Source: https://www.statista.com/topics/1244/physicians/)
Doctor resume layout
Let's talk about the doctor resume layout now. If you have chosen the reverse chronological format and resume template, your resume layout will look something like this:
Header
The header of your resume should mention the contact information and of course your full name. On the top you should begin with your name.
And after your name you need to include:
- Your contact number: Your accurate contact number with area code where you are easily reachable.
- Your professional email ID: Your professional and formal email ID that you use regularly for professional interactions. It should be simple and formal, avoid your personal IDs. Ensure you have types the ID accurately.
- Your links: You can also include your social media profile links if you are active on the platforms in professional capacity, especially LinkedIn (only mention them if you are active there and the profile and feed are curated carefully).
You can also mention your home address however it is not mandatory. Another optional thing is your professional headshot in formal attire, you can include the photograph if you want however it is not mandatory.
Resume summary
Your professional summary is important for the prospective employers. They want to intrigued from the beginning of the doctor resume. Your own resume must mention your key skills and achievements in this section.
You need to write the details using bullet points no more than 5 and no less than 3. You can mention the total years of experience along with a bit of background such as your area of expertise and your success rate of patient satisfaction and surgical procedures.
Your key skills may include patient care, patient satisfaction, diagnosis, internal medicine, family medicine, alternative treatments, laboratory tests, working with nursing and administrative staff, other medical doctors, ICU nurse and so on.
You should also mention what kind of opportunity you are looking for and how you will contribute which in a way your resume objective as well.
A doctor's resume must have an intriguing doctor resume summary so that the recruiter is intrigued to look at your profile carefully.
Professional experience/ work history
Your professional experience or the work history should be written in the reverse chronological order. You may have started as medical assistant. Your experiences should mention the details of your job title, employer name and employment period. Write the details in bullet points.
You should include all your job duties, medical achievements, recognitions along with the relevant skills. You should reflect how you ensure patient satisfaction with patient advocacy. You can also include your soft skills.
Doctor resumes allow you to highlight your experience in the most effective manner. You should mention types of your experience such as family medicine or pediatrics or such. Your resume should be appealing to hospital administrators because it is likely that your resume will be viewed by them as well as the person in charge of recruitment.
You can take the most advantage of complimentary aspects of your experiences. For example, how your treatment plans have yielded the most positive outcomes. How you are comfortable with educated patients and provide quality care.
Your patient care and patient satisfaction skills are most important and you need to mention them as well as highlight them. Your top skills may be included in this section along with the experience details.
Education section
Your competency as well as ability to practice as medical professional depends heavily on your education. Being a doctor, your knowledge has to be acquired through lengthy education period and you cannot learn everything on the job or from online courses.
You cannot have some irrelevant or indirectly relevant degree and practice as a doctor. You need particular degrees from medicine university or biology university or or medical school or such. Your medical degree is essential for your job.
Your education section must mention your degrees along with the details of your education institute. Your education period may have been remarkable. You might have had academic accomplishments as medical students as well. You can mention them in this section as well.
You can also mention relevant skills you earned along with relevant subjects along with the degree details. As a highly skilled professional, your education as the important foundation.
Skills section
Some roles are such that you can learn the skills on the job or through a month of training, easily, Medical doctor however, is not one of such role. As a medical doctor, you need skills that you have learned during your education and internship period or the residency program.
Other professionals can start working as if it was a trial phase of a game however we cannot put a doctor in front of a patient for trial phase! Your skills decide your competency and your skills hold a great weight on your resume.
You should incorporate skills in the resume summary as well as the experience section. Your skills section should mention the top conclusive skills are of utmost importance and can be described in few words.
Most importantly, you need to pick the relevant skills that are mentioned in the various job description for your position because those are the medical skills that the recruiter is looking for in the potential candidate.
- Internal medicine
- Medical skills
- Treat patients
- Managing nursing and administrative staff
- Communication skills
- In depth knowledge of medical field
- Knowledge of laboratory tests
- Minor surgical procedures
- Ensure patient satisfaction
- Alternative treatments
- Patient advocacy
- Patient education
- Managing medical records
- Family medicine
- Medical specialties
- Pharmaceutical knowledge
- Health care
- Treatment plans
- Annual follow up calls
- Critical thinking
- Checking blood pressure
- Quality care
- Ensuring positive outcomes
- Patient care
- Managing positive relationships
- Managing medical staff
- Accurate diagnosis
- Collaborating with nurse practitioners for patient satisfaction
Certifications/ Licenses
As medical professionals, you may already now how important are the rules and regulations for the medical practices. You cannot practice as doctors or nurse practitioners or any other medical professional without having the necessary certificates and licenses.
Every state and country has different laws regarding medical practitioners and professionals and you need to be aware of them when you are seeking a new opportunity.
Without these certificates or licenses, you cannot be hired. And if you do get hired, you will definitely get in a lot of trouble at some point.
Mentioning the details such as your certificates and license number and such is very important because if don't mention them, recruiter might assume that you don't have any thus not fulfilling the requirements and criteria for the doctor position. You should mention relevant details such as medical board you acquired the certificate or license from.
Extra
If you have any more relevant details such as language proficiencies, personal interests, extra courses or training, you need to mention those details on your doctor resume because it can be valuable information that sets you apart.
You can also mention any awards you may have received or any recognitions and acknowledgements. If you have attended any seminars or workshops that were worth a mention, you can include those as well.
Relevant keywords
The applicant tracking systems are software utilized by the hiring managers to scan the resumes they receive in job applications. The job applications are often received in the number of hundreds or thousands and it becomes very difficult to go through them all manually.
The software scans and filters the resumes based on the set parameters which are the relevant keywords of job title, job description, industry and such. You need to pick the words and use them throughout your resume to make sure your resume is shortlisted by the applicant tracking system.
You need to use them carefully in meaningful manner and not stuff them anywhere as it can impact the readability and hiring managers can tell when you have done something like this.
Cover letter
Cover letter is not always mandatory, many job applications do not ask for cover letter as a mandatory requirement. However, cover letter can add a remarkable value to your job application.
The cover letter is addressed directly to the hiring managers and the layout of a cover letter is same as the regular letter. The cover letter is your opportunity to include more relevant keywords.
Cover letter allows you to talk about your inspiration, your journey, your remarkable experiences and accomplishments along with your passion and dedication for the role. You can also talk about your mentors and notable colleagues who may add value to your profile.
You can also take into consideration the job description while writing the cover letter. You should also look up the recruiter and employer and address them instead of writing a generic address such as Respected sir/madam or such.
Conclusion
In conclusion, your doctor resume should reflect professionalism and provide exhaustive details of your profile.
- Compelling resume summary
- Accurate contact info
- Important skills
- Relevant keywords
- Enclosed cover letter
- exhaustive experience details
- Licenses & certifications
Now that you know all about writing a doctor resume, you may want to check out medical doctor resume examples and templates. You can check out our collection of resume examples, templates as well resume writing guides. Good luck with the job hunt!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How can I use a doctor resume template?
You need to choose the right template based on the suitable format for your resume and then make some adjustments of margins, white space and font sizes depending on the content amount. You will have to replace the content inside the sections with your profile information.
Do I need the license info on my doctor resume?
Yes, no medical professional can practice in any capacity without a proper license or certification (or both) which is why mention of the same is mandatory on your doctor resume.
What is the ideal length for a doctor resume?
The ideal length for every professional doctor resume is 1 or 2 pages.
