Preparing a Curriculum Vitae (CV)
CV's are required for a variety of applications. See guidelines below on each of the following types of personal statements:

• residency application
• awards, scholarships, or membership in honor societies (AOA, Gold Humanism Honor Society)

Powerpoint Presentation for Class of 2009: The Art and Science of The Personal Statement

Guidelines on Preparing a Curriculum Vitae for your Residency Application
Your print CV (separate from your ERAS CV) provides a brief summary of your education, your research and publications, your professional affiliations and certification, leadership, volunteerism, honors or awards, special skills, previous work experience, and interests. A well organized CV, printed on good quality paper, is a vital "personal marketing tool" for your residency interview process; typically you will bring copies of both your Personal Statement and your CV to present as needed at interviews. In some cases you will be interviewed "blindly" by persons who have not reviewed your ERAS application. In other cases, the individual interviewing you may not recall the details of your ERAS application. You will need to make "on the spot" judgements about how/when/if to distribute your CV and PS, but be sure to bring multiple (5-7) copies of each to each interview day at each program.

• Do not include an "Objectives" section in your CV; this information is covered in your Personal Statement.
  
  
• Limit your CV to a single page whenever possible
  • Multiple page CV's are appropriate only for students with extensive research, work or volunteer experience.
  • Without substantive content, multiple page CV's look "padded" and may annoy the reader.
  • Don't short-change yourself, but don't "pad" your CV. (see samples below)
    
    
• Make it easy to read.
• Assume it will be scanned within a few moments.
• Program directors have to read hundreds of these, and in a short period of time.
• Choose headings that highlight your strengths and make you a prime candidate for an interview.
• Don't hide your assets in dense text, reduced font size, and and narrow margins.
• One page is OK; use two pages only if you have substantive content.
• Use action verbs, focus on your role, results.
• Use bold/italics/capitalization/indentation to separate and highlight key sections of your CV.
• don't overdo "bullet point" formatting which takes up excess space.
  
  
• Lead with your strengths.
  • Choose headings that highlight your strengths and list in order of importance. Examples: Education, Honors/Awards , Honors/Outstandings received in Basic Sciences and Clinical Clerkships, Research, Publications, Work Experience, Volunteer Experience, Community Service, Activities.
  • Do not include information unless it is relevant. Don't short-change yourself, but don't "pad" your CV.
  • Focus on achievements and outcomes.
  • Focus on medical school; don't include info prior to undergraduate.
  • Do not include an "Objectives" section; this information belongs in your Personal Statement

• Present yourself as a professional.
  • Your audience is every decision maker for your target residency programs.
  • Don't waste their time on non-essential or personal information.
  • Personal information such as martial status, age, race, and religious affiliactions do not belong on a CV.
  • Make sure your grammar and syntax are flawless.
  • Use a consistent writing style throughout your CV.
  • Do not use clip art, textured paper, cursive fonts, or flashy text effects.
  • Make sure your CV is typed without error.
  • Review your draft CV with a skilled writer or experienced interviewer.
  • Review your final CV with a trusted advisor in the medical profession.
    
    
• Accurately represent your skills and experiences
• You never know who you might be interviewed by and what their, expertise, history, or background might be.
• Do not exaggerate your accomplishments.
• If you list that you were awarded a research grant, make sure you were that awardee, and not your research advisor
• If you list that you published an article, make sure that you are listed as an author and you are not simply someone who provided minor or insignificant support to the article or project.
• If you list that you are fluent in other languages, be sure you mean fluent.
  

• Be prepared to discuss every detail in your CV in an interview
  • Everything is fair game at the interview.
  • e prepared to be drilled by experts.

Sample CV's

• Three pages: Woo (extensive research, publications, and various honors)
• Two pages:
  • Rapot (multiple publications and abstracts)
  • Hao (no research but wide range of activities)
• Single page
  • Woods (no research)
• Roth (research and publications)
• de la Garza (research and publications)
• Williams (research)

 

Guidelines for CV's for Awards, Scholarships, or Membership in Honor Societies
The purpose of these CV's is to summarize your background while focusing on those qualities which address the criteria or requirements of the organization. Provide an overview of your activities and details of the community service, leadership, research, or whatever is pertinent, but do not include extensive details about areas beyond those under consideration for the award or membership as this may have the unintended consequence of signaling a lack of focus (or effort on your part) to the reader.

For example, if you are applying for membership in the Gold Humanism Honor Society and your your residency application CV is over 3 pages in length and contains detailed information about your research and publications, you are strongly advised to manage the length of your GHHS CV by using summary statements such as "over 15 articles have been published in peer reviewed journals and 5 are currently in submission." Committee members are faculty volunteers who will appreciate your efforts to focus your documents to this specific application.