Before you begin writing your personal statement, it’s important to understand why you have to write one in the first place. Resident and fellow selection committees look to your personal statement as an opportunity to get to know you – not what you’ve done, where you studied, or how well you did academically, but your personality. They want to know things a transcript and CV cannot convey: why you became a doctor; how you handle difficult situations and impossible decisions; the personal experiences that shaped you; your philosophy; your goals. This information helps determine whether you will be a good fit within the program, or whether you are desirable as a potential colleague. They may even play a part in connecting you with the mentors within your program who will best help you achieve your goals.

The best approach to writing your statement is to view it as a piece of creative (but not too creative) non-fiction rather than a professional summary. With these objectives in mind, it’s important that you construct a statement that is cohesive and centers around some common themes. One way to ensure focus is to begin with a quotation or proverb that relates to your narrative. It is also a good idea to share personal experiences from your past that inform the person you are today and shape your personal goals. To brainstorm, write down the three accomplishments you’re most proud of, or reflect on a particularly influential mentor and what you admire about him or her.

Once you’ve constructed your personal statement, read it aloud to yourself and others. Does it flow well, or does it seem disjointed? Is there a common theme? Do the anecdotes and examples you used throughout your statement illustrate the personal qualities you want to convey? Welcome critique and suggestions from people whose opinions you value and trust. Finally, ensure your final statement is free of grammar, spelling, and syntax issues. A personal statement that contains errors will give an impression that it was written hastily or haphazardly.

If essay writing isn’t your strong suit, it’s perfectly acceptable to seek professional assistance. Services like Career Services MD can connect you with professional writers who will help you transform your own personal experiences into a cohesive narrative that is uniquely you, giving you the competitive edge you need to ensure entry into your desired program and specialty.

In countries where a baccalaureate degree is awarded to a physician who has completed his medical treatment, this is to distinguish him or her from a Doctor of Medicine or M.D., or a physician who has completed advanced research and submitted a thesis or dissertation in some field of medical science. In North America, on the other hand, an M.D. merely refers to one who has graduated from medical school, but does not necessarily designate someone who has completed formal research or defended a thesis.

Before practicing in the U.S., most international medical school graduates obtain a certification from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, or ECFMG, which is a requirement to complete the USMLE Step 3 exam, as well as a prerequisite in most states before one can  receive an unrestricted medical license. Typically, once an international medical graduate has gone through these steps and becomes licensed to practice in the U.S., they are, for all intents and purposes, an M.D., and most jurisdictions will allow for the use of M.D. in their title, regardless of the original degree earned.

So, should your resume say you are John Smith, M.D., or John Smith, M.B.B.S? That all comes down to a matter of taste and situation. While M.D. more immediately alerts a prospective employer that you have the requisite training for the position, most professionals in charge of medical staffing are familiar enough with foreign medical graduates and their prerequisites to practicing in the U.S. If you do choose to use M.B.B.S. in your title, be sure your resume indicates your eligibility to practice in the U.S. Some ways your resume can clue prospective interviewers to your eligibility include providing any current U.S. medical licenses you hold (include the license number) or indicating that your international medical degree is certified by ECFMG.

Unfortunately, while age is a protected class, age discrimination (whether intentional or subconscious) happens in the hiring market. However, there are ways to avoid potentially aging yourself out of the running for the job you want, and it starts with your resume. Here are some dos and don’ts to consider:

• Do limit your “experience” to 15-20 years. Unlike a CV, a resume does not need to be a comprehensive, detailed account of your processional and academic history. If you feel uncomfortable omitting older positions from your resume, relegate experience older than 15 years to a “More Experience” section and omit the dates. You may also want to consider a functional resume rather than a traditional, reverse chronological format.
• Don’t list the dates you earned your degrees. If a prospective employer sees that you graduated from medical school nearly 30 years ago, they may assume you are not as current as some younger applicants on the latest research, treatments, and skills germane to your field of practice.
• Do emphasize recent continuing medical education and training that demonstrates you are keeping pace with younger physicians.
• Don’t list any research, presentations, or publications on your resume if they have not taken place within the last 5-10 years. If you have a lengthy bibliography that spans more than one decade, include only your most recent publications and state on your resume or in your cover letter that your CV or an addendum with your full bibliography is available upon request.
• Do include an email address and, if you have one, a mobile phone number in your contact information.
• Do consider employing outside help to get a leg up on the competition. A service like The Doctor Job can not only help you revitalize your resume and draft a compelling cover letter—we can also help you uncover unadvertised jobs in the location and specialty of your choice.

Just as it is for freelance writers and other set-term, contract workers, the primary downside to locum employment for physicians is a lack of security. Even the most proactive locum doctor may experience gaps between positions. It is not only stressful to be uncertain when or where you will next find employment, but the amount of effort one must expend to ensure continuous employment as a locum physician can be substantial.

This lack of security is augmented by the fact that locum doctors typically do not receive employer benefits, including medical and dental coverage, vacation and sick leave, 401(k) programs, or profit sharing opportunities. While you may find that locum appointments have a higher hourly pay than permanent positions, the pay difference is often not enough to fully defray the value of a employer-provided benefit suite.

Another downside to locum employment that many overlook is the lost camaraderie a physician gains as a long-term member of a hospital’s or medical group’s staff. A permanent position affords you the opportunity to forge lasting relationships with colleagues that foster professional growth as well as friendship and a sense of place. Short-term appointments also make it difficult to build trust and rapport with patients.

Locum tenens employment can be a wonderful employment option for newer physicians who wish to gain familiarity with a variety of work environments and specialties. It is also a great solution for physicians who desire employment within a specific geographical location. What it cannot provide, however, is the stability of long-term employment. The Doctor Job can help physicians find long-term, permanent jobs in any saturated market, within some of the most desirable cities. If you value both location and stability, contact The Doctor Job to learn more about how we can help you in your job search.

Personal Information

A good rule of thumb is to never include information that it would be illegal for your prospective employer to ask of you. This includes race/nationality, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, age/birth date, and religious affiliation. In an ideal world, all hiring managers are unbiased, and none of these statuses would stand between you and the job you desire. However, even someone who considers himself or herself neutral on all of these statuses may act on unconscious biases when culling the pile of resume submissions. It is perhaps even more likely that the disclosure of such information will indicate to your prospective employer that you are unprofessional or naive—two qualities one would most certainly wish to avoid conveying in a job search.

MCAT Scores/USMLE Scores

Unless you’re applying for a residency program, most employers are not terribly interested in how well you did on placement tests or qualifying exams, particularly if you have been a practicing physician for a number of years. While these scores are useful for determining how well one will succeed in medical school or within a certain residency program, employers are far more interested in your clinical experience and skills. Even if you are applying for residency or fellowship programs that will request this information, they will likely require official transcripts or ask that you indicate on your application forms how you scored, so the inclusion of this information in your resume is redundant. Use that valuable space to detail other achievements.

Pre- or Non-Medical Work Experience and Education

Some people feel a resume must include absolutely every paid position they’ve ever held, but if it isn’t relevant to your desired position and omitting it will not create a conspicuous gap in your employment history, you shouldn’t put it on your physician resume. Similarly, I have seen resumes that included information about the high school and grammar school attended. This is completely unnecessary, extraneous information.

You often have only 15 seconds to make an impression on your prospective employer. By omitting some unnecessary details from your resume or CV, you draw more focus upon the experience and qualities that really make you shine. If you really want to knock them dead, the skilled writers and advisers at The Doctor Job can expertly transform your CV into a focused and streamlined resume that will strike the perfect balance between too much and too little information.

So, what do prospective employers want to see in your cover letter?

1. Personal and Professional Qualities
I have seen countless cover letters that merely summarize the resume, detailing the physicians’ specialties, where they trained, and what hospitals or practices they’ve worked for. Because this information should already be detailed in your resume, it’s redundant to restate in your cover letter, and it also does little to sell you as a candidate. The cover letter is your opportunity to impart the facts about you that your resume cannot. Use your cover letter to illuminate the qualities that make you a great physician beyond your credentials and prior experience. Illustrate with specific examples of ways you have shown qualities such as compassion, proficiency in working with physicians in other specialties, or your ability to maintain a busy patient schedule.

2. Special Skills
The most successful candidates in the medical profession today are well-rounded, even in the most specialized fields. Therefore, it bears mentioning any additional training you have or difficult procedures you have performed that may set you apart from other candidates. It’s unnecessary to enumerate skills that someone in your specialty would be expected to have, but anything that will demonstrate you have something to offer that most other candidates won’t is guaranteed to get you shortlisted.

3. Accomplishments
There’s no place for modesty in your cover letter, so if you have something to brag, shout it out. Of course, nobody wants to hire someone who is obviously full of himself or herself, but it is okay to show pride in your accomplishments, and it’s also useful information for a hiring manager. If you have helped grow your practice’s client base, this shows you are someone with partner-track material who will help the group or practice grow business. If you have spearheaded a new program or served in a leadership role on a committee or within a department, you demonstrate leadership, drive, and initiative. Focus on one or two of your most important accomplishments that will illustrate the qualities your prospective employers are looking for.

4. Personality
Finally, remember that your prospective employer wants to hire a person, not a robot. While cover letters are by nature formal and professional in tone, you can still impart a bit of personality in your cover letter. One way to do this is to talk generally about why you are looking for a new position, and specifically about why you are interested in that particular position. This clues the prospective employers in to what you seek from your next position and let’s them know you have an active interest, not just in a job, but in their practice or group. Another way to infuse your letter with personality is to talk about your (relevant) activities outside of the hospital or clinic that may be of interest, such as volunteer work, community involvement, or charitable causes you support.

A cover letter is not just an introduction to your resume, it’s an introduction to you. If a job search is a marketing campaign and you are the product, your cover letter is the 30-second advertising spot that entices someone to learn more about you—in an interview. If you’re unsure of your ability to write the kind of attention-grabbing cover letter that will lead to more interviews and your ultimate dream job, the writing staff at The Doctor Job can help you put your best foot forward.

1. Resume is too long.

The first thing to note is the difference between a CV and a resume. Each document serves an important purpose and is desirable to a different audience. While the detailed and comprehensive nature of a CV may be appropriate for applying to academic and research positions or when completing grant application materials, they are no longer appropriate for most clinical positions. The managers who are charged with staffing a practice can receive hundreds if not thousands of applications for one position, and a 14-page comprehensive summary will, for better or worse, feel like far too much work to read.

Your resume is a powerful marketing tool, but only if someone actually reads it! You should strive to make this document a one-page summary of your education, work, and accomplishments. It should not only tell the hiring manager how qualified you are for the position, but also generate curiosity to learn more about you and what you can offer the practice.

2. Inconsistent or Confusing Format

I often come across resumes that categorize experience into clinical, academic, and research appointments, rather than following a traditional reverse chronological format. While a functional resume can be preferable in some situations—such as when one’s work history has large gaps or several short-term appointments—in most cases it is more appropriate to list your medical experience and training in a streamlined and orderly fashion.

3. Typos and Misspellings

It’s funny how often I see a resume that has correct spelling for words like “atherosclerosis,” yet misspellings of simple words like “research.” An error-free resume shows you are detail-oriented and organized. If you’re not the greatest speller or grammarian, it never hurts to consult with someone who specializes in those areas.

4. Inconsistent Citations

If your resume includes peer-reviewed journals articles or published abstracts, it’s a good idea to brush up on your knowledge of AMA citation format. At the very least, ensure that your bibliography has a consistent format.

5. Too Much Information

…And I do mean the personal kind. I have seen resumes that list marital status, date of birth, hobbies, favorite books, and even grammar schools attended. Of course your potential colleagues will want to get to know who you are, but some information is best conveyed in an interview.

If all this sounds like a lot of work, it doesn’t have to be—the experts at The Doctor Job can help. Contact a specialist today to learn more!

“Davey, ask them to say their name and number… (silence)… say “hi” Davey… (a loud clatter as the phone drops to the floor)… Beep.

Sure, such messages are adorable, endearing—all things precious. They are not, however, professional. And as a physician searching for a job, it is your responsibility to maintain the highest degree of professionalism in all facets of your life a prospective employer might come in contact with. Voicemail messages are one such facet; they should be simple, direct, and preferably left by someone over the age of five. And they should clearly state your name and the frequency that you return calls.

Which do you think sounds better:

1. “Hi, leave a message.”
2. “[automated voice]The person you’ve dialed at XXX-XXX-XXXX is unavailable. Please leave a message.”
3. “Hi, you’ve reached the phone of Dr. Suresh Gupta. I’m unavailable right now, but if you leave a message, I’ll return your call within the next day. Thank you.”

One and two give no idea if the person is calling the right number. #3 is professional, courteous, and will result in a better response from a physician employer.

In The Doctor Job’s quest to help all physicians be more professional, here are some additional tips that will help to make you an attractive, professional applicant in the eyes of your potential employer.

• Brush up on your phone etiquette. Few things are more frustrating for a department head trying to fill a position than a rude doctor. You can be professional while still being friendly to your prospective employer. After all, you want the department head to get the impression you’re glad they called.

• Create a professionally named email account, if you haven’t already. JaniceLovesCats@yahoo.com just won’t do. A simple suggestion is to use your first and last name with an underscore. Of course, you might have to do a slight variation if that account name is already taken.

• Dress the part for any interviews. Stick with something traditional like a pants suit. Power colors like red are best used as an accent; for example, a black shirt with a red tie. Also, you want to have the general appearance of cleanliness (brushed hair, ironed cloths) given the profession. The expression “dress for the job you want” applies perfectly here.

• Make sure your resume and cover letter follow the guidelines of professionalism. Resumes should be one page (2 pages max and only under special circumstances), simple to read, and visually attractive. Your cover letter should be a brief, one page statement that highlights your resume.

If you follow the above tips, and mix in a dash of common sense, you should be able to dazzle potential employers with your professional prowess.

When considering a new practice locale, I recommend a hefty dose of introspection first. Your likes/dislikes and interests are all serious factors to consider before taping up those moving boxes and relocating across the country. Do you like larger cities, smaller cities, or something in between? While big cities often offer a more diverse patient population, they can be overwhelming for some physicians. These doctors would rather work in a close-knit community, the kind where you walk down the street and Johnny the postman calls out your name as he waves. Of course, there is a middle ground here: You could always live in the suburbs and commute to your practice in the city.

Now, consider your interests and determine if a particular city will cater toward those interests. For example, are you a physician who enjoys international travel or has family overseas? If so, then proximity to an international airport is crucial. Also, living on the east coast often makes traveling to international destinations much easier. It’s also a good idea to assess what you like to do during your free time. (Okay, if you’re fresh out of residency/fellowship you might have forgotten what you like to do during this elusive “free time.” Don’t worry. It will come back to you.) If you enjoy going to the theatre then you should research what sort of performing arts venues a city offers. If grilling out before the big game is your idea of a good time, then finding a locale with a sports pocket might be a good fit.

While serious introspection should definitely play a role in your decision making process, the two most common factors physicians should consider when moving are career and family—and rightly so. While every city needs doctors, some cities might be a better fit for your career in medicine based on your specialty. For example, if you’re a neurologist who is looking to study a rare, degenerative disease, a certain research-oriented institution might be the best choice for your neurological career. Or, you might be drawn to a city due to work alongside a renowned physician in your field of practice. Sacrificing sunny weather or living on the coast might be a worthwhile price to pay when compared to the knowledge/experience you’ll gain while working in the right clinical or academic environment.

And let’s not forget about the family. Perhaps the single largest reason doctors relocate is in order to be closer to family. (Sure, they can drive you crazy but few motivators are as strong as family ties). If you have young children, it’s particularly nice to be closer to grandma and grandpa—also known as free, eager, top-notch babysitters. If the same city is a bit too close, consider finding a nearby metro area within a quick drive, or plane ride, to the folks.

Only after considering family, career goals, and your personal preferences, is it time to get that cover letter and resume ready. Bring on the boxes!

• Keep it concise. Unlike its European counterpart (a CV), a resume should not be a lengthy document. The ideal physician resume is one page. The somewhat less than ideal (but still acceptable under certain circumstances) resume is two pages. Period. There are no circumstances that accommodate for the twenty-page resume. An easy way to edit down your document is to remove any personal interest sections or references, as these are no longer appropriate on a professional resume.
• Highlighting versus elaborating. Let’s say you are a physician with an extensive research background in your respective field. Naturally you’d like to explain each study; after all, you invested a significant amount of time researching. Fight this instinct. A resume is designed to highlight professional experience, not to explain it in detail. Put yourself in the shoes of your potential employer. You’re tired, you’re busy, and you have a stack of physicians’ resumes to flip through. Would you rather look at a simple, neat list of research studies or chunks of paragraphs describing the laboratory setting? Highlighting. It’s a beautiful word. Wow them with snapshots of your experience; do not overwhelm them with a narrated slide show.
• Reverse chronological order. In each section, begin with your most recent experience and move backwards. Not only will this aid your potential employer in creating a mental timeline of your professional history, it tends to show you in the best light. Typically the most relevant experience you have is also the most recent. For example, if you had a section on your resume for Education and Training, your fellowship (most relevant) would be listed before your residency (still relevant) which would be listed before your medical school (less relevant) which would be listed before your undergraduate school (barely relevant), according to reverse chronological order.
• If you’re a foreign medical graduate, potential employers like to see your citizenship/visa status. And it actually works toward your advantage to be upfront about this regardless of your status. If you are a U.S. citizen, you can include this information if you went to a foreign medical school – otherwise, if you did your undergrad, medical school, and residency in the US, it will be assumed. Likewise, including your visa status shows a potential employer that you are upfront and honest, ready to make the visa process as smooth as possible for them.

These are just a few tips, but they will help you make sure that your resume is cleaner, easier to read, and more likely to get you interviews. For further assistance, don’t hesitate to contact the experts at The Doctor Job!