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Physician Resumes: Answers To The Most Common Questions

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Your resume is often how a recruiter or prospective employer first learns about you. A strong physician resume can get you one step closer to a fulfilling career.

A resume must be compelling, attention-grabbing, and present a clear, persuasive picture of your qualifications. If you want to spruce up your resume and make it stand out, here is your chance.

  • Format your physician resume template with the right margins, line-spacing, professional resume fonts, and enough white space for easy interpretation.
  • Present your past experiences in a tailored approach, with 3 to 6 bullet points for each job, and use action verbs.
  • Choose the right medical skills by reviewing the hospital or clinic list of job duties and responsibilities.
  • Pay attention to your education section and what key skills it proves.
  • Write the resume objective or summary section last.
  • Get your resume noticed with additional sections that show you go beyond the call of duty.
  • Write a physician cover letter to maximize your probability of getting the interview.

Next, learn more about the most common questions asked about Physician Resume.

Physician Resume Questions & Answers

1.  How do you write a physician’s resume?

A physician’s resume follows the same basic principles as any other resume. Use action-oriented words where every sentence has powerful action verbs. Follow a well-structured, bullet-based format that demonstrates a clean format and uses easy-to-read fonts.

Your physician resume should start with your name and contact information. List your specialty under your name, followed by a professional summary of about three or four lines. Include skills and terms for search-matching, and your work experience followed by your education.

2.  How do you write the work experience section of your physician resume?

The work experience section of your physician resume should break down the last 10 to 15 years of your work history. List it in the reverse chronological order (present to past) along with the employer name, your job position or title, location, years of experience, or dates.

Break down your tenure in a series of six or seven bullet points using action words and add in a strong representation of achievements by describing your experiences.

3.  How do you list your degrees if you have more than one advanced degree? (e.g., MD, PhD, MBA)

If an individual has multiple degrees, generally, the highest degree is listed. If an individual has multiple doctorate level degrees, such as MD, PhD, list them all separated by commas. 

You can list the lower degree in a distinctly different field of study if it is pertinent to the individual’s career.

The only academic degrees/credentials mentioned are advanced degrees such as MD, DO, DDS, DVM, PhD, and EdD. Including your Master’s degree or Bachelor’s degree is not essential. 

One can use a master’s level title under certain circumstances, but most of the time, it is unnecessary.

4.  Should you have a summary statement or objective at the top?

You might have come across the benefits of including an objective or summary statement. It is optional to use these additions in your resume. The objective consists of one to two statements that communicate your career intentions.

An objective might be a good option for someone who knows the precise job and industry they want to be in. Realizing what you want in a job and effectively communicating that on your resume can be appealing to some employers. You can write a profile first and include a one or two-sentence objective at the end to summarize.

A good resume summary will mention your level of experience, achievements, industry, and current job goals. The summary section will set the tone and focus for the remaining document. The intention is to summarize the qualifications to give the potential employers a summary of your skillset.

5.  What size font is best? What is the best number of pages to have?

You should provide the physician resume in easily readable font size, 11-12 points, and headings must be 2 or 4 points larger. Use a font that is legible and modern. Leave plenty of white space on the page to make your text highly noticeable.

A physician’s resume ideally varies depending on the individual and the kind of position being sought. The resume must be kept as short as possible and mostly no more than two or three pages long.

6.  Does every experience require explanatory bullet points?

The experience section is most crucial and must contain the strongest information. It is important to follow the standard format for this section. Using bullet points on your resume will help draw recruiters’ or hiring managers’ attention to significant points while allowing them to read through the resume faster.

List your previous job experiences in reverse chronological order, beginning with the most recent one. It would be best to write the current jobs in the present tense and others in the past tense. Each job can have about 3 to 6 bullet points, beginning with strong action verbs to describe your responsibilities. Use more bullet points for your current and pertinent experience.

7.  Should you include short-term/intermittent contract work? If so, how do you fit this in amongst full-time experiences?

Yes, you must include contract work on your resume. Any legit work experience you have serves as proof of your skills for a job and should be listed on your resume.

Group all of your contract work under one location of your resume so that the hiring manager or the recruiter will quickly read and understand the experiences in the context of work.

You can group by job type or industry. List your contract work from present to past, commencing with your most recent experiences. If you were involved in multiple projects for the same company, list all of that work under the same company’s name.

8.  What can you do to make your physician resume stand out?

Achievements are your best bet to highlight your physician resume and help you stand out from the herd. Employers may expect active contributions in your field.

Write achievements in bullet format regarding launching any new medical programs or improving patient outcomes, and reducing recurrences.

Final Tips for Creating a Great Physician Resume

A few things you should remember:

  • Make sure your word choice is purposeful, and your document is free of errors.
  • Your professional summary should excel at the top of your document with a concise explanation about why you are the right fit for the position.
  • Don’t stop just with the basics of your job responsibilities; indicate how you care for patients in your work history section.
  • Include metrics for anything measurable, such as providing free medical care to the homeless shelter once or twice per month.
  • Give the recruiters a sense of your other positive attributes with applicable hobbies listed at the end of your resume.

Conclusion

Writing a strong physician resume takes time and patience, but it is easier to accomplish when you have the right tools. A strong resume thoroughly adds up your relevant achievements and should engage a recruiter’s interest immediately.
Physicians should always have their resumes and CVs reviewed and proofread before sending them.

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