How To Write A Medical CV. The Ultimate Guide.

Crafting an effective medical CV or resume remains one of the most critical steps in progressing your medical career. In this newly updated guide for 2025, we outline exactly what it takes to create a CV that not only stands out but also aligns with current recruitment expectations. With increasing competition for training programs and clinical roles across Australia and New Zealand — and growing use of AI screening tools, cultural safety frameworks, and holistic selection criteria — your CV must do more than list qualifications. It needs to tell a clear, compelling career story that reflects who you are and the value you bring.

Despite the complexity and professionalism required in medicine, many doctors find themselves uncertain when it comes to writing their CV. That’s not surprising — career planning and job applications are rarely taught in medical school or training. If you’re feeling unsure about what to include, how to structure it, or how to highlight your strengths effectively, you’re not alone. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to craft a medical CV that gets noticed for the right reasons.

How To Write a Medical CV. The Best Way.

The key things to writing a successful medical CV are to:

1. Understanding that employers spend about 6 or 8 seconds the first time they look at your CV.
2. The final document that employers actually want is more a resume than a CV.
3. Pay close attention to what you put on your front page. Everything that is good about you should be on the front page. This includes your basic details, short qualifications, recent work achievements and a summary.
4. Tailor your CV to the role you are applying for. The best way to do this is provide a Personal Summary or Career Goal Statement as the first block of writing. This way you get to control the initial narrative. Not the reviewer.
5. Don’t worry too much about page length. A good CV should be as long as it needs to be and no longer.
6. Don’t put a photograph on your CV. This introduces unnecessary bias.
7. Do make your name the biggest thing on the front page. That’s what you want them to remember.

What’s The Purpose of a Medical CV or Doctor Resume?

The aim of your CV or Resume should be to present a summary of your career, including education, professional history and job qualifications, with a strong emphasis on demonstrating that you have the specific skills related to the position you are applying for.

The person who is shortlisting candidates for interview will, on average, be spending only a few seconds reviewing your CV the first time.  Their primary aim at this stage is to determine whether your application should be considered further. Therefore, the purpose of knowing how to write a medical CV is to ensure that you develop a CV that moves you forward in the application process.  You should ensure that your CV is relevant, clear and concise.

What Exactly Are You Writing? A CV Or A Resume.

Let’s start by defining what this document that you are writing is all about.  I’ve seen quite a few blogs and posts about how to write a medical CV or how to construct a medical resume. For example, this one. But they all seem to skip a basic issue.

Which is whether you are actually compiling a CV or a Resume? In a funny little, typical Australian quirk, most medical employers ask you to submit a CV, but in fact, they don’t really want a CV.  That’s just what they call it.

The Meaning of Curriculum Vitae

Curriculum Vitae means course of life in Latin. A proper CV, therefore, is a blow-by-blow account of everything that has occurred in your career and would stretch into several pages for many doctors.

The Meaning of a Resume

A Resume, on the other hand, comes from the French meaning to interrupt and therefore is meant to be an abridged and tailored account of your career. You are tailoring your career history and achievements to best address the job you are currently applying for.

So, what you are really writing is more akin to a resume. But you still need to ensure that certain information is included, in particular, all your educational qualifications and history, as well as all your work history.

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📈 How Medical CVs Have Evolved: 2015 vs 2025

Key Feature	2015	2025
Focus on CPD	Minimal CPD detail, often omitted or generalised	Quality, relevance, and integration with clinical roles are now more highly looked for and valued
Responsibilities vs Achievements	Listed role duties (e.g. “worked in ED”)	Panels look for outcomes and impact (e.g. “managed acute take independently overnight”)
Use of CV Builders	Mostly manual formatting in Word	CV builders or templates are essential to ensure readability, mobile compatibility, and an ATS (applicant tracking system)-friendly layout
Career Goal Statements vs Summaries	Often absent or vague	Now expected to reflect motivation, direction, and alignment with program values (VEG approach recommended)
Cultural Safety and Communication	Rarely mentioned unless in rural settings	Increasingly expected, especially in Australian/NZ health contexts (e.g. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health)
Research and Publications	Emphasis on volume, often over quality or relevance	Quality, relevance, and integration with clinical roles are now valued more than the number of publications
Formatting Style	Dense text blocks, minimal white space	Clean, scannable formats preferred — headings, bullet points, 1–2 pages per training level
Entrustable Qualities (EPAs)	Not referenced in CVs	CVs now expected to showcase examples of tasks you’re trusted to perform independently (e.g. leading admissions, consults, handover)

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🧭 What Hasn’t Changed in Medical CVs (2015–2025)

1. Clear, Professional Formatting Matters – A well-structured, easy-to-read layout remains essential. Visual clarity still trumps flashy design.
2. Reverse Chronological Order is Best Practice – Employment history and education should still start with the most recent first.
3. Accuracy and Honesty are Critical – Exaggerated roles or fabricated achievements will backfire — integrity is non-negotiable.
4. Customising for the Job is Key – Tailoring your CV to the specific role or training program remains more effective than using a one-size-fits-all document.
5. Spelling and Grammar Must Be Flawless – Typos still signal carelessness and hurt your credibility instantly.
6. Contact Information Should Be Clear and Up to Date – Always include your preferred phone number and a professional email address.
7. Use of Headings and Subheadings Helps Readability – Clear sectioning (e.g. Education, Clinical Experience, CPD) remains standard practice.
8. Referees Still Matter – Having a strong and diverse list of referees remains crucial.
9. Dates and Locations Are Expected – Panels still want to see when and where you worked or studied — vague timelines are frustrating.
10. The CV Remains a First Impression – No matter how much recruitment has moved online, the CV is still your frontline tool in securing interviews.

Where To Start With Your Doctor CV.

The CV is bookended by the front page and the referees, which come at the very end.  These are the two most important elements of a good doctor’s CV. So when someone asks me how to write a medical CV, the obvious starting point for my explanation is the front page.  We will discuss this in more depth and then move on to the other elements.  

First, it may be helpful to illustrate what I am talking about.  The letters in the image indicate different parts of your CV.

A – Your name should be the most prominent item on your CV

B – A qualification summary helps the employer to quickly determine whether you are eligible for the position.  It also means you don’t need to put your education history on the front page.  It’s also a good idea to include your medical registration number. If you are an International Medical Graduate, you should also include your English test results and visa status.
C – Provide contact details to make it easier to get in touch.  A mobile phone number and a professional email (which you check regularly) are key. You no longer need to provide a complete mailing address (that was for when they mailed you the contract).

D – A career statement or personal summary is crucial. Think of it as an executive summary where you get to control the narrative of your career.

It should demonstrate why you are a good candidate for the job by drawing on key items in your CV. You should also show how you can add value to the employer. If using a career goal summary format, try to set your career horizon 2 to 5 years into the future.

When writing your personal summary or career goal statement, I now recommend including a VEG-style statement — that is, a few lines that convey your Value, show your Ease of transition, and express genuine Gratitude. This approach helps frame your experience in a way that feels both confident and authentic. For example, rather than simply stating the position you’re seeking, highlight what you bring to the role, why it’s a natural next step, and why the opportunity matters to you. This small addition can make a strong impression, especially when selection panels are reviewing dozens of applications.

E – Employers are most interested in your work history. This should be written in reverse chronological order. Don’t waste space listing too many details of the position (i.e. specific dates of rotations and job responsibilities) instead use this as an opportunity to highlight your achievements with additional narrative.

Don’t waste space listing too many details of the position (i.e. specific dates of rotations and job responsibilities); instead, use this as an opportunity to highlight your achievements with additional narrative. If you have worked more than 2 or 3 jobs already, you probably will not have space for your education history on your first page. If you do have space, try to ensure you once again make this section relevant to the post and supportive of your career statement.

The Front Page.

The Front Page is where you should focus your effort most. So it’s best to at least start here. Remember, you can always make a draft of this bit, then fill in the other remaining elements, and then come back to it.

Don’t worry too much about formatting for now.  Just open a Word document and concentrate on the content and the order.  Try to keep all your formatting, text and styling to a minimum so that you can do that at the end.  That way, you will have a more consistent look.

Alternatively, you can use one of the many online CV builders that are available. I recommend VisualCV because it is free to use, and if you want to upgrade to one of their slightly nicer templates, you can do so for a few dollars.

6 to 8 Seconds To Review Your CV.

What’s all this fuss about the front page? Well, studies show that experienced recruiters spend only a few seconds reviewing your CV (or resume) on the first pass and that most of this time is spent on the first page.

The front page is therefore extremely critical. It should be where you put all your best information.  This makes it easy for the person reviewing your CV to determine that you are worthy of a deeper review. Which, in most cases, means progressing to the interview phase.

The Front Page should consist of the following elements (see the hot-spotted image):

• Your Name – which should be the biggest thing on the page because you want them to remember your name*
• Your contact details – you want them to be able to find you
• Your short qualifications
• A career statement or personal statement
• Your work history in reverse chronological order

If you have any space left. Which most doctors do not. You can start to account for your educational history. Again, in reverse chronological order.

I’ve written before about the importance of the career statement. But remember, this is where you can highlight all the other good things that are worthy of being on your front page.  The things that are buried on pages 2, 3, 4, 5, etc, because you are following the rule of work history first, then education history.

Your Name Is The Hero. Not Your Photo.

For an in-depth explanation as to why photos are not recommended on medical resumes, go here.  The 3 main reasons are that photographs can unnecessarily bias the reviewer’s impression of you as a candidate, are seen by many panel members as breaking an informal rule AND take up a lot of that valuable 6 to 8 seconds that the reviewer spends reviewing your CV the first time.

What you do want to stand out on the page is your name.  This seems an obvious point.  But I have seen plenty of CVs and resumes where the applicant used a small heading for their name.  If you are going to go big with any font and any styling (sometimes a dark background header with your name in white looks good, but don’t go too crazy), then make it your name.  You want the reviewer to remember it, AND when they go back through that pile of CVs the next time, be able to easily find it.

Lots of Narrative Please!

It’s important to talk about yourself in your CV.  Control the narrative from the start with your career goal statement.  But don’t switch straight over to bullet points for the rest of your CV.  There are probably some really memorable moments in your work career and education, and they deserve a sentence or two if they relate to the job that you are aiming for.

Too often on CVs and Resumes, candidates waste valuable space listing all the job specifics (e.g. dates and locations and role responsibilities) whilst not talking about what they achieved or learnt in the role.

Try not to bore the employer.

In most cases, you can safely assume that the employer knows what an Intern does on a daily basis.  So use the opportunity to talk about the unique things you did as an Intern.

For example, perhaps you are aiming for a specialty trainee position in emergency medicine, and one of the selection criteria is the ability to make rapid decisions.

Perhaps in your intern or resident role, you had an opportunity to demonstrate rapid decision-making? Maybe you worked with one doctor for a significant period, so you had to bring those skills to bear.  If so, write about this element of your work history and relate it to how it will help you in the new role.

“Nailing” Your Personal Summary Section.

Your personal summary section (or Career Goal Summary if you prefer this approach) is arguably the most important section of your CV or resume.

Writing a personal summary for your medical CV is a strategic exercise in controlling your professional narrative. This concise, introductory segment empowers you to set the stage for your entire CV, allowing you to steer the focus towards your most compelling attributes and experiences. It’s an opportunity to succinctly articulate your career objectives, strengths, and unique selling points, framing your profile in the light most favourable to your aspirations.

By carefully crafting your personal summary, you can guide the reader’s perception, ensuring they view your experiences and qualifications through the lens you’ve designed. This deliberate shaping of narrative is particularly important in the medical field, where differentiating oneself in a sea of highly qualified professionals is crucial.

This concise section allows you to highlight your most significant achievements, skills, and experiences, setting the tone for the rest of your CV. It’s particularly beneficial for illustrating how your background aligns with the specific needs of the role and the organisation. Moreover, a well-crafted personal summary can differentiate you from other candidates by showcasing your individuality and professional ethos.

The V.E.G. Approach to Personal Summaries.

My favourite mnemonic for aiding in crafting your Personal Summary is the V.E.G. approach.

Value in the Personal Summary:

• Integrating ‘Value’: You should always lead with the key value you bring to the role. For instance, achievements like implementing a telehealth system or leading health outreach programs can be highlighted to show how you, as a candidate, can lead and enhance the team.

Ease of Transition:

• Highlighting ‘Ease of Transition’: It’s important to allay any fears the panel may have that this job is “too big a step up” for you. Provide examples of how you have mastered key aspects of the new job in your current or previous roles.

Gratitude in the Application Process:

• Expressing ‘Gratitude’: Finally, it’s important to finish your personal summary by conveying a sense of passion for the role and gratitude for the opportunity. What do you like about the job, the team, or the hospital? How will this job help you out? Panels will generally award jobs to candidates they feel will be grateful.

Here’s a VEG-style example for a junior doctor applying to a Basic Physician Training program:

“I’m a PGY2 doctor with a strong interest in internal medicine, currently completing rotations in general medicine and cardiology. I’ve developed confidence in managing a high caseload, coordinating with nursing and allied health teams, and being the first point of contact for consults and emergency admissions. I’m routinely entrusted with reviewing acutely unwell patients, initiating investigations and management, and clearly communicating with senior staff. Basic Physician Training is a natural next step to deepen my diagnostic skills and contribute more meaningfully to complex inpatient care. I’d be truly grateful for the opportunity to train in a program that values clinical excellence, teamwork, and professional growth.”

Talk About Your Achievements.

I’m hammering the point here a bit.  But it is important to sell yourself.  Try to put down at least one important thing that you did in your most recent 2 job roles. If you can back this up with hard statistics. Like “implemented a new pre-admission protocol that reduced the number of patients needing to be rescheduled for day surgery by 10%” that’s even better.

But maybe it’s just a compliment you received from a grateful family or something unique your consultant wrote about your performance on your end-of-term report.

Think also about what things you did that were special in medical school, and write about one or two achievements there.  Anything that shows leadership, organisation, or teaching skills is good.  Examples might include being a secretary for a club or tutoring pre-clinical students.  For the former, you can talk about the club’s aims and what was achieved that year.  For the latter, you can talk about how many students you tutored, and if you do have some teaching evaluations, you can talk about these as well.

The Order. And The Rest.

The expected and recommended order on a Doctor’s CV is as follows:

• Details (name, contacts, registration, short qualifications),
• Career Summary,
• Work History (Achievements), most recent job first and following in reverse chronological order,
• Education History, again, most recent qualification first,
• The Rest,
• Referees.

With “The Rest”. It’s totally up to you what you put, how you list it, and in what order. 

If your teaching achievements are your strongest suit, then put this next. If it’s your skills, put that next, etc…

Some other headings you may wish to consider using are:

• Teaching
• Professional Development
• Publication
• Academic Achievements
• Extra Qualifications
• Qualifcations
• Certificates
• Volunteer Work
• Research
• Skills
• Publications
• Quality Improvement
• Leadership and Management
• Committees
• Presentations
• Conferences
• Languages
• Computer Skills
• Digital Skills

But again. I emphasise you don’t need to use all of these.

Don’t Worry Too Much About Research — Especially Early On

Many trainee doctors worry that not having a long list of peer-reviewed publications will count against them. But for most medical roles — particularly early career positions — research is usually a secondary consideration. A CV that focuses heavily on research with little evidence of clinical engagement may actually raise questions about your commitment to hands-on patient care.

No rule says you must include a “Research” heading on your CV. If you have a few relevant activities but not formal publications, consider using a broader term like “Publications and Presentations” or “Academic Contributions”. This gives you flexibility to include things like:

• Conference posters and abstracts
• Grand rounds or hospital presentations
• Quality improvement projects or audits
• Even published blog posts — increasingly recognised as forms of scholarly activity

You can also highlight overlap areas — such as audit, teaching, or service evaluation — that demonstrate academic thinking and professional development without requiring formal research output.

In general, a lack of research is not a dealbreaker, especially in junior roles. It may only become a factor at the college selection level, where certain specialties award bonus points for publications or qualifications. Even then, quality and relevance tend to matter more than quantity.

Why a Defined CPD Record Matters — Especially Post-PGY2

While research may not be essential early on, what’s becoming increasingly important is having a clear and well-curated record of Continuing Professional Development (CPD). From PGY2 onwards, selection panels, colleges, and employers are placing more weight on how doctors engage with lifelong learning, reflective practice, and self-directed development.

Your CV should start to show a balanced CPD profile — not just as a list of certificates, but as evidence of your evolving clinical and professional interests. This might include:

• Accredited short courses or simulation training
• Cultural safety or communication workshops
• Participation in clinical teaching, journal clubs, or case reviews
• Quality improvement, audit, or patient safety initiatives

A strong CPD section not only demonstrates initiative and accountability but also helps differentiate you from others with similar clinical experience. It’s one of the clearest ways to show that you’re actively building the capabilities needed for specialty training and long-term career growth.

Referees.

Referees are arguably the most important aspect of your CV. Especially if you make it through to the interview round.  Your referees should be contacted to provide some information about you.  This information is gold and should be treated as more important than the actual interview itself.

This is the reason why referees are placed last on the CV. It makes them easier to find. 

Experienced recruiters know to weigh the value of a well-taken reference or set of references above the quality of your interview performance. This is because studies show that references have greater predictive validity in selection. 

Sadly, many of the doctors you will encounter on selection panels are unaware of this fact and place too much emphasis on the interview performance. But this does not mean that they are not interested in your referees. They are. 

Who should I choose for my referees? 

In most industries, your first referee will be your current supervisor or manager, and your second referee will generally be you’re previous supervisor or manager. Medicine is a little different because trainee doctors are rotating around frequently and are interacting with several supervisors and managers regularly.

There are three key principles that I outline to trainee doctors when selecting referees.

The first is recency, the second is relevancy, and the third is diversity.

Recruiters will generally want to speak to someone who has recently worked with you, preferably your current manager. In some circumstances, this is a requirement. Some good options for this might be your Director of Training, Director of Medical Services, Medical Workforce Unit, or JMO Manager.

You also want at least one referee who is relevant to your chosen future career. For most, this generally means one Consultant who is a Fellow of the Specialty College you are aiming to enrol with. Some doctors in training try to have 3 College Fellows listed as their only referees and worry if this is not the case. It can be incredibly hard to collect 3 good referees from one College, and I actually don’t recommend this approach. You are far better off focusing on obtaining one College referee who has actually supervised you in a term. Most trainee doctors will have a chance to work one term in their preferred specialty before applying for posts. 

So who else might you ask to act as a referee? 

This is where diversity is a consideration. There may be a Consultant from another specialty with whom you got on well during their term. If so, it’s a good idea to put them down. Other options include: Nurse Managers, Senior Allied Health Professionals and Advanced Trainees. The key consideration here is that these should be people that you have worked with who have gotten to know you reasonably well. 

I would also recommend that at least one of your referees is male and at least one is female. 

By having a diverse list of referees, you are telling the selection panel that you value teamwork and the roles of others in the team, and also that you are able to get on well with a range of different people in the workplace.

By having a diverse list of referees you are telling the selection panel that you value teamwork and the roles of others in the team and also that you are able to get on well with a range of different people in the workplace.

Anthony Llewellyn

Are there some referees I should avoid or seek out? 

As a trainee, you may be worried that a certain referee may be tougher than another referee or that some referees carry more weight because of their name, reputation and connections. 

There is really no hard and fast way of knowing whether a referee is more or less likely to improve your chances of an interview or a successful job application. Gut feel is probably your best ally here. If you feel that you have established a good, authentic working relationship with a referee, they are likely to give you a good reference or, at worst, a balanced one. 

I would avoid any referee who implies that their name on your CV will carry some additional weight. 

How many referees do I need? 

The short answer is 3. The panel will be required to contact at least two referees, and they usually only collect 2. The third referee is there in case one of your other two referees cannot be contacted. There is no rule that says you have to stop at 3 referees. You can list more, and it may be sensible to add a couple of more referees if you feel that this enhances your candidacy. Extra referees can, for example, demonstrate your ability to be a team player by listing additional referees from various medical and disciplinary backgrounds. 

More than 5 or 6 referees is probably excessive, and you should also be mindful of the order in which you list your referees. 

How to order and list your referees.

Remember that the first two people listed on your CV as referees are the ones who will be contacted first for a reference. So you should generally order your list of referees in the order that you would prefer them to be contacted. However, if one of your referees is someone you have not worked with in over 12 months, then you should either rethink using them as a reference or put them a bit further down your list (3, 4 or 5). 

You should list your referees as follows: 

[Prefix] [First Name] [Second Name], [Job Title] [Organisation], [Location] 

e.g. Dr Sandy Duncan, Head of Department of Medicine, St Cliffs Hospital, Sydney 

You may wish to add relevant qualifications (e.g. College Fellowship) if this clarifies the nature of the referee better. But you don’t need to list all of their qualifications. You generally do not need to provide a physical address. 

If possible, list a mobile phone number and email address, as this makes the job of the person taking a reference much easier. 

Referees available upon request.

Sometimes you may see the words “Referees available upon request” listed on a CV. This might occur, for example, when applying for more senior training or consultant posts. It is generally done when you may wish to ensure that you speak to your referees before them being contacted by someone from the selection panel, for example, where there might be some sensitivity around you leaving your current role.

What Is the Optimal Length For a Doctor’s CV or Resume?

If you look for advice online about Resume length, you will quickly be told that a resume should be no more than two pages.  This is, however, unrealistic for most doctors. Because we tend to move jobs initially once a year, when starting, we tend to accumulate a lengthy work history fairly quickly.  Along with this also comes typically publications or extra professional development, which is worth including. 

The optimum length for a doctor’s CV or resume should be as long as it needs to be and no more.  Practically getting it down to 2 pages is unrealistic. Most doctors can comfortably restrict their CV to a maximum of 4 pages. But again, the emphasis is on what information needs to be provided. Not how much.  Your focus should always be on relevance and creating a narrative that sells you to the employer, so if that means going a little longer, then that is fine.  So long as you spend most of your time refining your front page.

Tips For Ensuring That Your Doctor CV (Resume) Stands Out In A Good Way – How To Write a Professional Medical CV.

• As long as it needs to be — Your CV should give the reader enough information for them to explore relevant points during the interview. Most can manage this in 4 pages, but remember that quality is much more important than quantity.
• Do not waste valuable space — Don’t include a cover sheet or index in your CV.  Don’t be overly inclusive regarding specific rotation dates and job duties unless this aids your application. 
• Easy on the eye — Avoid using too many fonts and lots of different formatting styles (such as bold, underlining, and italics) as this will draw attention away from what matters the most in your CV—the content. Use the same font throughout. A “sans serif” style font, such as Arial, is best as these are easier to read. Ensure that the layout, spacing, and structure of your CV are consistent throughout and do not differ from section to section.
• Avoid block after block of text — It is better to present your skills and achievements in a given section as bullet points rather than paragraph after paragraph of solid text, as this can be off-putting and daunting to the reader.  However, this does not mean that you cannot still use a narrative approach.  A good CV aims to make your experience and achievements leap off the page.
• Do not make things up — Your CV is a statement of fact, and if it is found to include information, this can be very bad for your career.

*Never include a photo on your CV. Unless this is mandated.

⚠️ Top 10 Common Mistakes in Medical CVs

1. Listing Responsibilities Instead of Achievements – Saying “worked in ED” tells the panel very little. Show what you did, what you handled, what you improved.
2. Using a Generic, Unfocused Career Goal Statement – Vague lines like “I am a hard-working doctor seeking opportunities” don’t impress. Tailor it to the role and specialty.
3. Overcrowded or Poor Formatting – Dense blocks of text, tiny fonts, and inconsistent spacing make your CV hard to scan — and easy to skip.
4. Failing to update the CV regularly – Outdated roles, missing rotations, and old referees make you look unprepared.
5. Including Irrelevant or Excessive Detail – Listing your Year 10 debating prize or every single short course you’ve ever attended clutters your narrative.
6. No Mention of CPD or Self-Directed Learning – This is increasingly expected, especially from PGY2 onwards.
7. Overemphasising Research When Not Relevant – If research is not part of the role, it shouldn’t dominate your CV.
8. Incorrect or Inconsistent Dates – Gaps, overlaps, or wrong years raise questions about attention to detail and honesty.
9. Forgetting to Include Teaching, Audit, or QI Contributions – These activities show initiative and are valued in every specialty — don’t overlook them.
10. Typos, Grammar Errors, or Poor Phrasing – Panels equate CV quality with professional standards. Even minor errors can hurt your impression.

Related Questions.