I. INTRODUCTION:

Now that you are completing medical school, it is a good idea to start constructing your CV. A CV is an academic resume that you use to tell others (prospective employers, residency directors, hospitals, etc,) about your academic qualifications. A CV needs to be as long as it takes to convey the information. For many fourth year students, the document may be a page or so. For a tenured professor in a medical school, it may cover several hundred pages. In this chapter, we will provide an example of a standard CV that is appropriate for most senior medical students. We will also discuss some of the issues surrounding ERAS and the application process.

II. CV

At the end of this chapter, we have provided a standard fourth year medical student CV (see ). Always title your CV indicating that it is a curriculum vitae. Personal data is optional, but can sometimes be helpful to residency directors to enable them to know something about you. Since the original CVs were typed on manual typewriters, most items are listed in chronological order rather than reverse chronological order because it is easier to add new information at the end of a section, than in the beginning if a manual typewriter is used (otherwise, you would have to retype the entire page or document).

HOT KEY: List items on CV in chronological order.

It may be helpful to bold anything that is very significant in your CV. Examples include, offices held, specific names of awards or honors, meeting names, and your name when it appears in a bibliographic citation. For many students, a section in the CV called “other significant activities” can be used to indicate important contributions made outside of the standard academic activities. Examples include, teaching activities, contributions to community service, and the like. A final section on hobbies and interests will give residency directors an opportunity to learn something more about you. Although this section is optional, it is frequently relied upon to provide topics to discuss during interviews.

HOT KEY: After reading your CV, residency directors should know you fairly well. They should know your talents and interests and have a good idea of the type of student that you are.

III. ERAS AND APPLICATIONS

ERAS has greatly simplified the residency application process for both applicant and program. Computerization has minimized filing inaccuracies and has greatly improved communication between applicants and programs. As such it is essential that applicants have a reliable, accurate e-mail account that they check often. Most residency programs will communicate with applicants entirely electronically. This includes inviting applicants for interviews, informing applicants about the program, and alerting applicants about missing documents.

HOT KEY: Obtain a reliable e-mail account for the residency application process that you check often.

An important element of your application are letters of recommendation submitted on your behalf. ERAS has also simplified this process by allowing these letters to be submitted electronically through your Dean’s office. To facilitate this process, it is important that you make requests for letters of recommendation early. We suggest that these letters should be requested early during the summer prior to your interviews. It is also important that letters be requested from people who know you well. It is better to get a letter from a junior faculty member who has worked with you clinically, then from a senior faculty member who taught you in a large lecture. Letter writers should always ask for a copy of your CV and personal statement. They will also usually ask to meet with you prior to writing the letter. This is important to insure that the letter writer writes a letter that reflects that they know you well and to insure that they can comment on your abilities, strengths and future plans. Although commonly overlooked, remember to ask letter writers to indicate whether or not these letters are confidential in the body of the letter. Clearly, confidential letters are stronger than those that you have read prior to submission.

HOT KEY: Arrange to have letters of recommendation sent early during the summer prior to submitting your application. Get them from people who know you well.

The personal statement is an opportunity for you to state why you are choosing a particular field and what you hope to do in the future. As such, make sure that your personal statement clearly reflects these issues. Unlike a CV which does not have a restriction on length, the personal statement should not exceed one page in length. Take this space to allow residency directors to learn about your motivation for a given specialty as well as your future career plans. Although the personal statement will not “make or break” an application, it is frequently referred to program directors to provide a basis for an interview. It is often helpful to have several faculty members read your personal statement prior to submission to insure clarity and to check the statement’s content.

HOT KEY: Ask a faculty member to read your personal statement prior to submission.
CURRICULUM VITAE

FIRST MIDDLE LAST NAME

Home Address: 8 Main Street
Anytown, USA
Phone

Social Security Number: 000-00-0000

Personal Data: born: Anytown, USA month/day/year
spouse: Marry Me
children: Alf Spring born 0/0/00

Education:

1900-1904 B.A. University of Knowledge, Canton Ohio (Metaphysics honors major)

1904-1908 M.D. School of Medicine, Anytown Anystate

Employment:

1901-1905 Twinkies Bakery, doughnut taster
1905-1908 Blinkies Bakery, senior doughnut taster

Extracurricular Activities:

1904-present Vice President, Nutrition Club
1903 Class Treasurer
1904-1907 Primary Care Club, member

Awards Honors and Membership in Honor Societies:

1904 Twinkies Bakery Merit Scholarship recipient
1905 Nutrition Prize

Membership in Professional Societies:

1904-present American Medical Student Society

Research Experience:

1904 A Randomized Trial of Standard Chocolate versus Krispy Kreme Doughnuts as Adjuncts for Weight Loss. Dr. Dunkin, Any Medical School.

Other Significant Activities:

1904 Developed economic incentives for moving doughnut franchises into impoverished areas of Anytown through $18 million grant from National Business Association of America

Presentations:

1. Its ME, Dunkin DN. Pastries and Health. American Society of Caloric Intake Annual Meeting, Keebler, MT, May 1906.

Bibliography

Original Manuscripts:

1. Dunkin DN, Its ME, Jones SW. The nutritional value of doughnut holes: A circumferential study. Acta Retracta 1905;3:12-14.

Abstracts:

1. Its ME, Dunkin DN. Doughnuts versus holes: A nutritional analysis. Acta Retracta 1904;4(Suppl):104A.

Hobbies:

baking, weight loss, alchemy