Blogging with The Doctor Job

Physicians often worry about the content of their resumes, but don’t put much thought into the order in which the various categories appear. The structure of a physician’s resume can be a key factor in whether or not he/she receives an interview.

If I had 30 seconds to do a quick resume make-over for a physician client, the first thing I would tackle would be the resume’s organization. When I look at a physician’s resume I immediately form an impression of his/her medical experience based on what is at the top of the page. If the CV lists a medical degree from a foreign country, my first thought is “foreign medical grad.” If the CV lists a medical degree with a date prior to 1980, I think “old.” (Blunt, but true) If the CV shows a long list of jobs that are each two years or less in duration, my impression is “job-hopper.”

Are these assessments all correct? Yes. There’s no way of getting around the fact that a doctor graduated from a foreign medical school, is getting up there in years, or has held a lot of different clinical positions in a short period of time. What can be tinkered with is when that information is revealed to a prospective employer.

For instance, if you are an FMG but you have been practicing in the US for 10 years, your practice experience is what you want to highlight. If you graduated in 1967, don’t draw attention to that fact by making your degree the first thing employers see. If you’ve moved around a lot in your career, but you have strong credentials, make your undergraduate and medical education and post-graduate training the focus so that employers have a chance to be impressed by your strong points before they take note of any weaknesses.

To figure out the ideal way to structure your own medical resume, jot down the three most impressive things about your experience. This could be 1) the fact that you were Chief Resident, 2) that you went to an excellent medical school, and 3) that you published an article in a prestigious journal.

Now, if you are a fairly recent medical graduate, your residency and medical school might be at the top anyway since you have not had much practice experience. If not, there is a quick and easy way to bring attention to these things while still giving attention to your practice history: create a “Summary of Qualifications.” Adding this category to the top of your resume will give you a chance to put all of your best attributes in one place AND put them in a prominent location.

You can also play around with the categories you use. Don’t feel that you have to use the resume categories found in a template. Be creative and use categorization to your advantage.

For example, one recent physician client did a fellowship in sports medicine after practicing general pediatrics for 10 years. He wanted to make a career change to focus on sports medicine. Instead of doing the usual categories of “Post-graduate Training,” and “Practice Experience,” I created a “Sports Medicine Training & Experience” category. That way, I could list all aspects of his sports medicine experience (including fellowship, research, extracurriculars, event coverage, etc.) in one place. This helped paint him as a “sports medicine physician” rather than as a pediatrician who happened to do some training in sports medicine.

When it comes to your resume structure, pay attention to the first impression you’re giving off. If you feel that an employer will like what he/she sees in the first 15 seconds, then you can feel confident that your resume is structured well.