CV Tips

• Your CV must be organized and easy to follow

• Be sure to be constant in these areas

  • Dates should be listed the same throughout

  • How you list degrees should be constant (MS, MD vs.. M.S., M.D. vs. Masters in Science, Doctor of Medicine

  • Headings

  • Font style

• Citing publications

  • An easy way to site your publications is to go to the UMN Health Sciences Library’s website, search for the publication, click on it, click on “ Cite. This will help ensure that all of your publications citations are constant.

• Bold your name in all citations

• Have a comprehensive CV. Use it as a template and adjust it for specific applications, such as deleting certain sections or older activities, and bolding different activities when appropriate.

• Consider a category for “manuscripts and grant submissions in progress” in the right scenario even if they aren’t published if you are an early trainee, but talk to your mentor in the context of the application.

• At different stages of training you will have different overall categories and sub-categories. For example, in residency you may have one section for presentations, but now have sub-divided it into oral presentations and poster presentations. 

• Use numbering when you want to communicate the number of things you have done, such as showing the number of grants or the number of publications.

• Other sections you may want to be more simple and clean, so use bullet points

• Do your best to keep your CV updated in real time. However, when that's not possible, Create a label in your email called “CV”. Anytime you do anything that could remotely be on your CV, label it. These activities are then very easy to find later when you need to update your CV, and will have the dates and collaborators easily accessible

CV Creation Resources:

• AMA - Creating a standout medical CV

• NEJM Career Center – Creating a Physician CV that Shines