Contact information and professional summary

💡 Who you are as a professional and how to contact you

At the top of your resume, you should include your contact info:

• Your full name
• Phone number
• Professional email address
• Links to your professional social media profiles (like LinkedIn)
• Your address (down to the city is enough)

Below that, write a brief professional summary. Treat it as your elevator pitch:

• It should be 2-3 sentences long
• Highlight your qualifications for medical school and your future medical career goals
• Mention your most notable achievements, top skills, or relevant work experience

Education and achievements

💡 What you've learned so far, projects and achievements that align with medical school requirements

Here you should list your education in reverse chronological order, and include specific details:

• Name of the degree and school
• Relevant coursework and projects
• Graduation year
• Your GPA
• Achievements in classes and programs
• Awards or scholarships if you had any

When you're applying for med school, your degree and MCAT scores can mean more to the committee than your work experience, so this is probably the most important section of your resume.

Certifications and licenses

If you've completed any relevant courses or trainings, include the certifications and licenses you've received. Make sure to add the certifying organization and the year you earned it.

Professional experience

💡 What your level of expertise and practical skills are

After listing your education, discuss where you've applied that knowledge. Start with your most recent position and include relevant work experience, such as medical internships. Make sure to specify key job responsibilities.

Prioritize jobs related to the medical field, but if you believe that other positions provide evidence of important transferable skills, include them as well.

Hard and soft skills

💡 What skills will help you succeed in the program and your future career

On top of what you've developed through internships and jobs, list other skills you have. You can divide this section into 2 parts:

• Technical and practical skills
• Transferable and soft skills

It's better not to include the obvious basic ones, like time management. Select the skills that can be backed up in your experience and education sections, and can set you apart from other applicants.

Extra experience and academics

💡 What differentiates you from other candidates

If there are any other achievements and experiences that can add to your medical school resume but don't really fit in previous sections, you can list them separately. For example, you can mention:

• Volunteering experience
• Professional affiliations
• Research groups
• Extracurriculars

Tips for writing a medical school resume

Apart from following a clear structure, there are other things to keep in mind when writing a medical school resume.

Include keywords

Many admissions offices use automatic filtering systems, especially if they receive a lot of applications every year. These systems usually look for the keywords that were mentioned in the program's description, so make sure to include skills and experience from the outline (if you can also provide evidence, of course).

Use scannable format

To ensure your resume is easily scannable, it's essential to use proper formatting:

• Bold your section headers so they stand out at a glance
• Use bullet points to list your achievements, experiences, and skills

This approach will make your resume more visually appealing and also help the admission committee review all the key information quickly.

Be detailed but concise

Include details, particularly about your professional experience and education. However, focus on the important points and don't go overboard. Keep your resume to 1 page – it's meant to provide condensed and to-the-point information about your candidacy.

Check for errors

You never want to send a resume to your dream medical school with a typo. Double- or even triple-check for spelling errors. You can also ask someone else to read it to make sure you included everything and didn't miss any mistakes.

Don't leave empty space

It can be hard to make your resume look "full", especially if you don't have any work experience, for example. And it doesn't mean that you should write whatever to fill in the gaps – it's all about the balance. You can include more details in the sections you feel most confident about to make up for others. Just be sure to stay focused and keep the information relevant.

Use this template for your medical school resume:

Conclusion

A well-crafted resume can be a ticket into your dream medical school. It's an opportunity to showcase all your skills and achievements in a clear and concise manner and put the spotlight on the most notable ones.

Use the formatting to your benefit and include keywords. When you're ready to submit your resume, take another look, and make sure that it outlines who you are as a professional in the most advantageous way.

Read more:

• 15 Tips to Write Your Personal Statement for Medical School
• Med School Interviews: What Kind of Questions Should You Expect?
• Five Reasons Why Studying Medicine Abroad Is A Great Idea