
Resume vs CV: What’s The Difference & Does it Matter?
Resume vs CV. The ultimate job-hunting battle royale. Are these two contenders evenly matched? Who'll claim victory in this epic bout? You’re about to find out!
Prescribe our guide on how to write a medical CV and give your job search an excellent prognosis. See every section needed for a medical CV template.
Being a medical professional in the UK is quite different to many other career sectors. There’s less moving from job to job and many people in the sector may find themselves working for the NHS for life.
But that said, maintaining an up-to-date and well-written medical CV is a must. You’ll still have the opportunity to apply for new positions, or you may consider a move to the private sector. Learning how to write a medical CV is essential to effectively communicate your experience and achievements to date.
Read on and you’ll see medical CV examples that will show you exactly what to do, so you can write your own with confidence.
First, take a look at this medical CV sample made with our builder.
Want to save time and have your CV ready in 5 minutes? Try our CV builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ CV templates and create your CV here.
Medical CV made with our builder—See more templates and create your CV here.
And we’ve got CV writing advice for other careers too.
Dr. Stephan Weiss
Ph: 0777 777 7777
Email: s.weiss.zety@gmail.com
GMC Number: 1234567
Compassionate and dedicated community GP with 10+ years of experience in general practice. Accomplished in communicating sensitively and effectively with patients from a broad range of backgrounds including a significant proportion with vulnerabilities and complex medical needs. Aiming to take my medical career to the next level by transitioning to a busier inner city practice and continuing to focus on exceptional public health outcomes.
Work Experience
General Practitioner
The Westfield Surgery, Hammersmith, London
July 2009–Present
Education
MBBS, September 1998–June 2004
University College London Medical School
Professional Memberships
Conferences
Courses & Training
IT Skills
Hobbies & Interests
Referees
Languages
Here’s a step-by-step guide on writing your medical CV
Some elements of formatting are common to every profession. So first, let’s take a look at the basic rules of CV layout.
Now for some important points to remember about writing a medical CV. It does follow the basic structure of a standard chronological CV but there are also additional sections that you need to include. We’ll cover all of them later.
Your CV header should also include additional information. Alongside your personal details, be sure to include your registration status with the GMC. Simply enter your seven-digit GMC number e.g. GMC No.—1234567
Another thing to remember is how long should a CV be. For most professions, it’s recommended you write a one or two page CV. But a medical CV is more like an academic CV. A length of 3–8 pages is a good rule of thumb.
Let’s continue.
Read more: How to Layout a Professional CV
Your CV personal statement, aka CV personal profile or CV summary is a 3–5 line paragraph that functions as the introduction to your medical CV. Use it to grab the hiring manager’s attention and prove you’re a suitable candidate. Here’s how.
Begin by asking yourself these three questions.
Then you’ll answer those questions differently depending on what stage of your medical career you’re at. If you’re writing an experienced medical professional CV, then do this.
Alternatively, if you’ve not got any experience such as when you’re writing a medical student CV, then use this method instead.
This is the first section of your CV, but we advise that you leave it until last. That way you’ve got all of your education, experience and other achievements set out and ready to summarise.
Read more: How to Write a Job-Winning CV Summary
It’s your experience of working with patients that’s crucial to being an effective medical professional. So your work experience section is a pivotal section of your CV. Get it wrong and the prognosis isn’t good for advancing your career. Here’s how to get it right.
Read more: How to Write a Powerful CV Work Experience Section
Education is key to a medical career, perhaps more than any other profession. In other jobs, hiring managers may skim over this section, but for a medical CV it gets carefully examined. Here’s how to make sure you stand up to that scrutiny.
Read more: How to Write Your CV Education Section
When making a CV in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building your CV here.
When you’re done, Zety’s CV builder will score your CV and tell you exactly how to make it better.
So far we’ve followed the standard CV structure you’d use for any career. But for a medical CV you need additional specialist sections. We’ll go through them in turn. We’d recommend always including professional memberships first but you can be flexible in the order of the other sections. The best approach is to tailor the order to the job. So for a post focussed on research, put your research section immediately after your memberships section, and so on.
And not all medical professionals will need to include every section. So, for example, if you’ve never conducted research in your career, you can just omit the section.
Professional Memberships
Training
Courses, Conferences
Prizes, Scholarships and Other Relevant Achievements
Research Experience
The importance of this section is dependent on the particular details of your medical speciality. To write this section mention the following:
Clinical Audit
Include the following information about any clinical audits you’ve completed:
Presentations and Publications
List all presentations and publications from your teaching experience, clinical audit or research. The BMJ recommends you use the Vancouver style for citations, but whichever citation style you choose, make sure you follow it consistently.
Teaching Experience
Specify what sort of learners you’ve taught, e.g. undergrad or postgrad, and your teaching methods. Also mention where and when you have taught. This section can be structured similarly to your work history.
IT Skills
You’re probably painfully aware that you spend as much time on a computer as you do at the coalface. IT skills are now part and parcel of the medical profession so mention your proficiency with administrative software, databases, statistical software and research software.
Hobbies & Interests
Often recommended for candidates targeting entry-level positions in other careers, a hobbies and interests section is a valuable addition to your medical CV. In a career as intense as medicine hiring managers want to see candidates who are well-balanced.
Read our guide on CV hobbies and interests to see some great advice on how to write this section.
Referees
Should you include references on a CV? For a medical CV template it’s a definite yes. Include the details of three referees from current and previous roles. Write their full name, job title, address, phone number and email address. And always check with your referees before you put them on your CV and ensure their contact details are up to date.
Languages
A powerful addition to any job search, be sure to mention language skills. If you speak any foreign languages include a skills section. It’s a great help for communicating with international colleagues and with patients in a society as multicultural as the UK.
Think of a medical cover letter as a complementary treatment that boosts the effect of your CV. Far from being a relic of the past, cover letters are still an essential part of the job application process.
Here’s how to write a cover letter for medical jobs.
And my final piece of advice for you. Follow up your job application. If you haven’t heard back anything within a week of applying then get in touch with the hiring manager and check up on the progress of your application. It’s an excellent way of increasing your chances of an interview.
Plus, a great cover letter that matches your CV will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:
See more cover letter templates and start writing.
And we’re finished. I hope you’ve found our guide to writing a medical CV useful. If you’ve got any questions at all then please use the comments section and I’ll be happy to get back to you with an answer.
Resume vs CV. The ultimate job-hunting battle royale. Are these two contenders evenly matched? Who'll claim victory in this epic bout? You’re about to find out!
We can’t tell you the meaning of life, but we can tell you the meaning of CV: what it stands for, its purpose, and how to make yours perfect.
What should a CV look like? Its contents are as individual as you are but there are some rules everyone needs to follow for professional results. Here they are.