Creating a professional and thorough CV is of utmost importance, as this is the employer’s first look at you and your accomplishments.
Categories include (all entries listed in reverse chronological order):
- Educational background (medical school, graduate, undergraduate)
- Post-graduate training and fellowship appointments
- Specialty boards and certifications (licensure)
- Research/publications
- Leadership experiences
- Committee service (include position title and role)
- Teaching experiences
- Presentations
- Awards/honors
- Membership in professional organizations
- Continuing education participation
Guidelines for Creating a Medical CV
American College of Physicians: How to Write a CV
AAMC: Preparing your CV
CV Pearls
Keep your CV up to date throughout your training; review it every few months. It can be difficult to recall all of the activities you participated in over long periods of time.
If you are applying for an academic position, be sure to highlight educational, leadership, and research experiences, i.e., adjust the order of categories on the CV.
CVs can be annotated to provide brief explanations of committee positions, awards, and research.
Have several people (mentors, faculty, chiefs, and/or program director) review your CV prior to sending it out.
The document is best saved and sent as a PDF file to avoid accidental changes when the file is opened by the recipient(s).
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