Medical School Resume Examples & Writing Tips

Medical school resume template

Resumes are structured differently based on their use. For instance, if you’re applying for medical school, you should format your resume with your education at the top to show hiring committees why you’re a top consideration for their programs.

How to write a resume for medical school

You may not be required to submit a resume as part of your medical school application. However, including a well-written resume can separate you from candidates with similar qualifications and earn you an interview.

Here are 5 tips for writing an ideal medical school resume that shows admissions officers that your skills and interests align with their program’s requirements.

1. Don’t write a resume objective

Usually, the person who reviews your application will quickly scan your resume after poring over your MCAT scores, personal statement essay, and letters of recommendation. So don’t write a resume objective — yet another chunk of text — and expect the reviewer to read it.

Instead, grab the admissions officer’s attention by listing your name and contact information in a resume header, and then go straight into your education and work experience.

2. Use scannable formatting

Admissions officers should be able to pick out your main qualifications with a quick glance at your resume. Make your skills stand out to the eye by following these professional resume formatting guidelines:

• submit a one-page resume (anything longer is too much reading for a busy application reviewer)
• use bold and italic text in headings to create an easy-to-read structure
• set your resume font size between 10.5 and 12 points so the reviewer can read it without straining their eyes
• set your resume margins in the ½”–2” range, aiming for a perfect balance between blank space and text so the page is filled (but not crammed) with information

3. Showcase your MCAT scores

Yes, your MCAT scores are already listed on your medical school application. But you should still list your scores on your resume to reiterate that you meet your target program’s requirements.

Your MCAT scores should be in your resume’s education section at the top of your resume. (Because you’re not applying for a job, your degree and MCAT scores mean more to the reviewer than your work experience.)

Here’s how an education section on a med school resume should look:

4. Quantify your relevant work and research experience

Only list work and research experience that shows you’ll make a great physician on your medical school resume.

For instance, medical school admissions officers aren’t interested in the odd jobs you did to get spending money during high school. However, they will be impressed by your time as an undergraduate clinical research assistant.

Including a resume with your medical school application makes you stand out from a crowd of similarly qualified candidates. So when you write your work experience section, don’t just list your job description. Instead, describe your experience in terms of your accomplishments, using hard numbers to provide context, like this:

• Implemented new EHR system that reduced the time needed to transcribe charts and organize patient data and care plans by an average of 25 minutes per shift
• Train new scribes, reducing the onboarding timeframe from 1 month to 3 weeks by overhauling training manuals and increasing hands-on exposure to EHR processes
• Translate for Spanish-speaking patients, ensuring 12+ patients each day receive accurate diagnoses and equitable care

5. Include extracurricular activities

Most medical schools say they consider applicants regardless of what bachelor’s degree they have. But if you’re applying with an undergraduate degree that has little or nothing to do with the medical field you should still show that your interests point toward you becoming a doctor.

Highlight your relevant hobbies and interests on your medical school resume by creating an extracurricular activities section, and include any university clubs and volunteer activities that show hard and soft skills that will make you a successful doctor.

Here’s an extracurricular activities section that shows medical school application reviewers that the applicant is actively interested in pursuing a medical career:

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