How to write a doctor resume

We may not know medicine - but as a medical recruitment company, we know all about doctor resumes!

Being Australasia's largest recruitment company means that we spend hours sifting through doctor resumes and we know what goes into creating a resume that works for the hiring manager and how to complete your paperwork for the application.

If you already have a CV - that's great! But its style, length, and content may be quite different from CVs that hiring managers in hospitals and clinics across Australia and New Zealand are looking for.

Here are our tips and tricks - so you can get started on applying for your dream jobs!

How to write a doctor resume?

Whatever your professional experience is as a medical doctor, a stand-out resume can be just the thing that catches the eye of hiring managers and secures you an interview.

When creating your doctor's resume, it is integral that it is thorough and well-written. Make sure you include your qualifications, clinical experience, and research.

A good resume should be clear, and concise and it should address the skills and qualifications of the job that you are applying for. If you have the time it is with tailoring your resume for each role.

Pressed for time? Use artificial intelligence (like ChatGPT) to draft your resume or optimise your existing one.

Make sure you include these skills on your doctor resume

• Your name and contact details

• Your medical qualifications and where you studied for your degree

• Dates of qualifications and employment

• Any gaps in work or practice history

• Any extracurricular activities or research you have undertaken

• A photograph will help build rapport with the hiring manager

How to make your medical CV stand out?

Creating a killer CV can be a drag - but when it helps you secure your dream job it all becomes worth it.

Download our free Doctor CV Template to help you stand out from the pack (and save you time and effort!).

This doctor resume template is the same one we use to save our doctors’ time and help them secure their dream jobs across Australia and New Zealand.

How to present employment gaps on your doctor resume?

When it comes to your medical CV, employers are becoming more and more savvy about looking into the work history of candidates. Ignoring gaps in employment completely or trying to stretch the dates of your last job simply doesn’t work. Employers are looking for honesty and integrity, from the first step.

Most importantly, you must acknowledge spaces in your employment history up front. The last thing you want is to leave the hiring manager wondering if you just stopped showing up one day, ‘let go’, or lay on the sofa binging Netflix and eating chips for 7 months.

Explaining the missing time in your employment history can be quite tricky, but in terms of the overall picture of your resume, is really important to get right. As Australasia’s largest medical recruitment agency, we have seen it all, and we are here to help.

Recruiters and hiring managers are people too – they understand that sometimes life happens. Family members unexpectedly pass away, residents need a break, and travelling the world provides you with valuable life skills which can actually aide your medical career.

How are gaps on your doctor resume perceived?

That said, hiring managers are used to looking for inconsistencies in your CV – and if large gaps are not addressed, they may assume the worst. For example, if it took you 4 years to complete your residency, at a glance this may look like you failed or had to re-sit a year – in reality, you took a year off to marry your childhood sweetheart and travel the world.

From the perspective of the employer, the longer the break the more questions that are raised. It’s best to address these from the offset. Think about the following questions when addressing the gaps:

Did you gain valuable life experience? E.g. travelling, voluntary work, Did you achieve any major personal achievements? Did you do any medical work? Did you keep your medical registration up to date? Did you undertake any research or additional training?

We hope that this was helpful, now that your doctor resume is all sorted, the next step is how to ace your interview!