Medical CV writing is an art that should be mastered to get your CV stand out from the crowd. They are still required to get medical jobs in the UK, despite the recent popularity of online application forms. See how to write an effective CV for any medical job here.
The format of a medical CV requires that you clearly present the "story of your life" in a fluid easy to follow and read pattern.
They should be written and tailored to meet a specific job requirement. The chronological CV format is often employed. A medical or doctor's CV should be presented in the most concise,
professional and clear way possible.
Important headings to include are your personal information, education and qualifications, memberships of any professional or academic institution, if any, employment history, outstanding achievements and prizes if you have some, publications, audits, management experience if any, teaching experience, career goals, hobbies, and any other relevant information like possession of full UK driving license, your immigration status - inclusion of your possession of a British passport or "indefinite leave to remain in the UK", for example if you are not a UK or EU trained candidate may mean getting short listed or not.
Whatever you include under those headings should be a honest and true reflection of your abilities, experience and qualifications.
Generally, most CVs should be 1 or 2 page long, but with years of experience in the profession, some senior medical personnel have been known to have CV running into 6 or more pages. Weed out the unimportant. Keep your CV as concise as possible.
Preparation is key to succeeding in most things in life. This is even more so if you are planning to write your medical CV.
The following are general house keeping guides to help you not only write a medical CV that stands out, but more importantly, one that gets you the job. You may have come across some of these in the how to write a good CV section.
As stated above, the following are headings to include in any good medical CV.
Many people chose to create different layouts for this section of their medical CV. Some chose to place it as an horizontal tab on top of their CV, while some as a vertical information on the top left or right of their CV. The choice is yours. Personal information typically included in a CV for medical jobs include:
Some include an introductory paragraph which summarizes their profile, strong points, and career goals. This is equivalent to having a 20 seconds slot on prime time television to sell yourself to the person reading your CV. Be concise. Be sharp. Mention specific achievements if any. Use the third person.
It is important that you read the job description and persons specification for the job in question to get an idea of the type of individual needed to fill the post. Then tweak your profile to suit that. A sample profile is also included in the medical sample CV below.
This section should feature all your educational qualifications from secondary school onwards.
If you have not already included your GMC status and number in your personal profile, this is the next best place to feature it. Include:
Again, if you have not already included this information in your personal profile, you can create an heading for your medical indemnity info now.
It is often a good idea to join a medical defense union, despite having some automatic level of medical indemnity insurance from the crown if you work in NHS hospitals. You may score extra points during short listing for having additional cover. Those applying for GPVTS training and qualified GPs by law, require one.
Apart from these incidental advantages, you will be able to get access to medico-legal advice 24/7, should you find yourself in any situation that may require such help, and also be covered for indemnities not covered by the crown indemnity like good Samaritan works.
Clinical proficiency, experience or competence is an additional optional section on medical CV that highlights skills and competences you have acquired from your previous jobs.
With the advent of Clinical Governance, and NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) committees pushing forward the borders of expected excellence in standard of care, it now behooves every medical personnel to regularly compare the local standard of care with the national bench marks, or best care available.
Participating in clinical audits, apart from being a contractual requirement now, will be very nice on your CV (no pun intended).
Most short listing panels will score you a point or two under this heading. So to get a medical UK job, participate in a clinical audit, and include it on your CV.
Have you been involved in any form of research? Was it published in a a scientific or peer review journal.? Then include it here. Whether in a local or international journal, do not hesitate to add any published work.
Omit this section if you do not have one.
You need to know the order in which to present your research or published works. The usual order is:
Some candidates combine this section with their audit section in a single heading as "Publications & Audits". If that suits you best, go for it. A good medical CV should not be rigid in format, as long as it has the important headings and info to help sell your capabilities.
This section can be very useful. Be sure to include:
If you are applying for a more senior post, say a SpR or Consultant job, management experience would be expected of you.
Defining your career aspirations and plans will help throw insight on your professional direction.
Medical career could be very stressful. Employers want to know what you do to "switch off" from the day to day medical stress.
I have Cray-fishing on my CV as an hobby and that has caught the attention of some of those on interview panels, leading to my been asked to explain what it is … what a way to relax during an interview!
Always keep a list of referees away, but be sure to include this heading in your medical CV and say - "available on request". If you want, you can actually include the names on your CV.
Approach a potential referee long before you need to apply for a job and ask if he or she will be willing to give you a good reference for a job. Do not feel you are too pushy by doing so... you need to be pushy anyway.
By the time you have neatly drawn up your medical CV as outlined above, you should be confident that you have met the requirement for an effective medical doctor CV.
Please see the featured example of medical CV at the Sample Medical CV page.
Are you looking to write a medical CV? Or perhaps are a doctor who have actually written a killer medical CV and have some great ideas or points to share here? We would really love to hear from you. Please post your queries and comments on this subject here.
|
Subscribe To Our Newsletter
Mar 25, 18 03:38 PM
Get UK jobs now. You can get jobs in almost any field or trade despite the doom and gloom in the news. Follow our guide and get a graduate or non graduate job in the UK within 30 days or less.
Apr 27, 16 08:51 PM
See the latest accounting jobs from top UK employers. Learn the tricks of securing an accounting professional job fast. .
Apr 27, 16 04:27 PM
We bring you latest Indeed jobs across various sectors here.