Your curriculum vitae, when done well, can be your ticket to residency.
Ah, the curriculum vitae (a Latin expression that loosely translates to “the course of my life”). In the U.S., the curriculum vitae—or CV—has taken the place of the resume in medical and academic circles and is typically meant to be a comprehensive look at your life’s work.
Your curriculum vitae is the first impression residency institutions and potential employers form of you, which can be the deal-breaker when it comes to getting a first interview, subsequent interviews, and getting accepted into a residency program.
Despite the importance of this document in getting into residency, physicians get relatively little instruction on its preparation. Here are a few tips for CV preparation (many are the result of my own personal experience):
- Watch for mispellings and gramar errors. (Did you catch those?) This seems fundamental but is of the utmost importance and must be addressed. These errors suggest carelessness and low attention to detail to your potential employers (NOT ideal traits for a doctor!). Simple tips to avoid this misstep: use your spellchecker, and have someone proofread your CV for you.
- Don’t tell them what you are going to do; tell them what you have already done. Because of what is at stake, it is natural to want to make yourself look as accomplished as possible. You may be tempted to bulk up your CV with works in progress or future projects. This can backfire and cause you to lose credibility when should the employer investigate further. You can verbally express your aspirations in your interviews, but your CV is meant to showcase all the experience you’ve already had. (Extra tip: make sure your citations follow the American Medical format).
- Skip the abbreviations. There is no field in the world that loves abbreviations more than medicine (VATS, ERCP, VBAC, etc.). We also abbreviate many affiliations, journals, and positions. However, not everyone is familiar with all of these abbreviations and shortcuts. To keep it clear and concise, skip the shortcuts.
- Keep your submitted materials secure. The electronic age is clearly here, and there is a push to Go Green! It is not uncommon to have requests for your CV in an electronic format. If you choose to send it electronically, ensure that it is sent in a protected format (for example a PDF) so that it cannot be altered (accidentally or on purpose) by others before it is viewed by your potential future employer.
- Don’t get too personal. Our personal lives are realms in which we achieve some of our most important life accomplishments (our partner, our pets, our children, our hobbies, and so on). However, your CV is a summary of your professional life. In the eyes of the reader, these items can be seen as padding at best and may be a nuisance if they have many applicants to sift through. Keep the personal stuff off of the CV, and save any personal anecdotes for your interviews should they naturally come up in conversation.
Of course, one way to make your curriculum vitae more impressive is with a knock-out USMLE score. Maximize your USMLE score, and chances of matching into a residency program, by prepping with Kaplan—the world leader in test prep!
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