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Table of contents

Popular medical resumes
How to write a medical resume
Medical resume examples by experience level
Write a medical cover letter
Facts about the medical industry
Key takeaways for your medical resume
Commonly asked question about resume writing

In health care, your skills have made a huge difference in many patients’ lives.

But, when it comes to showing your talents and commitment to potential hospitals or clinics, it’s not always easy to find the right words.

A well-prepared resume is your remedy. Your resume is your professional profile — a reflection of your dedication and skills. You recognize the gravity of having a compelling resume, and soon, you’ll be equipped to perfect yours.

This guide will show you:

Stellar examples of medical resumes.
Prescriptions for creating a standout medical resume.
Resumes designed for different levels in the health care hierarchy.
Why a cover letter is the heartbeat of your job application.
Essential takeaways before you plunge back into your job exploration.

Ready to make your resume now? Get started with our Resume Maker. Choose a design that resonates with the medical community and benefits from industry-specific guidance, including editable text suggestions.

Popular medical resumes

Are you ready to learn how to write a resume that makes you a top candidate for potential employers? The key lies in channeling your expertise and experiences into a concise, reader-friendly resume.

Here are a few examples of powerhouse resumes pulled from our Resume Builder.

Are you looking for a different job title? See the rest of our medical resume examples:

How to write a medical resume

Ready to elevate your medical career? Craft the perfect resume.

Wondering where to begin? Kick things off with a resume outline. The key parts are:

Essential contact details at the top.
A compelling resume profile.
Sections spotlighting pertinent clinical and soft skills.
A chronological overview of medical experiences, starting with your latest position.
Highlights from your educational and training background.
Additional segments that could further strengthen your application.

Let’s go deeper into each part.

Step 1

Add your contact info

Your resume is your calling card. You want to make it easy for the hiring manager to reach out. That’s why you should put your contact information in the header.

Here’s the contact info that must be included:

Name
Phone number
Email address — make sure it’s professional!
City and state

If you’ve got an online professional profile or a portfolio that showcases your work, feel free to add that link too.

In the realm of health care, subtlety is key for your resume design. Aim for an uncluttered and polished look that allows your experience to stand out without any unnecessary frills.

Next, let’s get into your resume’s introduction.

Step 2

Write a standout summary or objective

Your professional profile serves as the prologue to your career story, setting the tone for everything that follows. Positioned right at the forefront of your resume, this is where you make your first and most impactful impression.

Consider your profile the highlight reel of your professional life — a curated collection of skills and moments that prove you’re the ideal candidate for the job. Here’s how to tailor it:

For seasoned professionals — Those with three years or more of industry experience should craft a professional summary. This brief, punchy narrative should weave together your most significant skills and career moments into four or five focused sentences.
For newcomers or career changers — If you’re stepping into the health care field afresh or pivoting from another sector, a resume objective will serve you well. This should outline your ambitions and frame your emerging skills as tools for delivering value and growth, both for yourself and your prospective employer.

Your ultimate aim with this introductory paragraph? To convince the reader that your professional journey aligns perfectly with the needs and values of their organization.

To hit the mark, immerse yourself in the culture and ethos of the potential employer. Understand their mission statement and weave elements of it into your profile. This level of personalization not only showcases your most relevant achievements but also demonstrates your enthusiasm for the role and the company.

Writing tip

Customization is key. Each medical position you apply for is unique, and so too should be your resume. Align your profile closely with the job description, spotlighting the experiences and skills that resonate most with the listed requirements. This attention to detail will not only increase your appeal but also help your resume navigate the complexities of Applicant tracking systems (ATS) with greater success.

Summary for a dedicated medical professional

Adept at delivering patient-centered care with a track record of enhancing patient satisfaction and engagement. Skilled in quickly assimilating comprehensive knowledge of health care services and treatments to offer superior patient support. Committed to ongoing professional development through continuous education and engagement with medical literature and seminars. Excels in maintaining exemplary clinic hygiene and managing health care supplies and logistics, ensuring optimal patient safety and clinic efficiency.

Career objective example for a medical resume

Newly credentialed graduate eager to launch a career with HealthWell Clinic. Brings a solid foundation in patient care principles, a keen understanding of health service coordination, and a robust ability to learn and apply medical procedures and policies. Keen to apply organizational talents to support clinic operations, contribute to patient care excellence and uphold the high standards of HealthWell’s health care services.

Step 3

List your most relevant skills

Every medical professional should have a mix of technical and interpersonal skills.

Daily, medical workers use a range of hard skills, such as operating medical software or interpreting lab results. Equally important are your soft skills, which come into play when you’re collaborating with medical teams or communicating with patients.

Consider how you will add skills to your resume to show that it’s not hard vs soft skills but rather a combination of the two.

Writing tip

In the medical field, your interpersonal skills are as vital as your technical ability. Highlight your capacity for empathy, teamwork and patient advocacy. Use terms like “collaborate,” “diagnose,” “empathize,” “advocate,” and “communicate” to convey the breadth of your skills to the recruiter.

Hard and soft skills for a medical resume

Hard Skills

Medical record software proficiency
Clinical procedures
Patient assessment and diagnosis
Health care administration

Soft Skills

Compassionate patient care
Effective communication
Team collaboration
Patient and family education

Step 4

Detail your work experience

In the health care industry, medical professionals — whether they’re technologists, nurses or therapists — serve as crucial links in the chain of patient care. Your resume should reflect everything you’ve learned in school or on the job with a special focus on the tangible outcome of your work.

Ultimately, the bullet points in your work history section should go beyond a list of tasks to capture the real impact of your contributions to patient health and business operations.

Focus on:

Patient care metrics, such as caseloads or recovery rates, to illustrate your effectiveness.
Quality improvements you’ve driven, like infection control measures that reduce patient readmissions.
Potent action verbs such as “implemented,” “diagnosed,” “monitored” and “innovated” to inject vitality into your professional story.

List your jobs in reverse-chronological order. This will make it easier to highlight your most recent and relevant achievements.

Writing tip

Balance your clinical or technical skills with a showcase of your interpersonal skills, such as patient education or cross-departmental collaboration, emphasizing the full scope of your role.

Medical work experience entry example:

Senior Medical Staff
General Hospital | Evansville, IN | March 2019 – Present

Deliver comprehensive care to an average of 40 patients daily, optimizing recovery outcomes and patient satisfaction scores.
Championed a hospital-wide initiative to enhance protocol adherence, reducing postoperative complications by 25%.
Pioneered the use of a new diagnostic tool, contributing to a 30% decrease in diagnostic turnaround times and a 10% improvement in diagnostic accuracy.
Cultivate a culture of teamwork and continuous learning, facilitating monthly interdisciplinary workshops that improve patient care coordination.

Step 5

Showcase your education and credentials

For individuals entering the medical field, the education section of your resume is a vital showcase of your commitment to health care excellence and learning.

This section should list your degrees and signal to employers that you are well-prepared to take on the responsibilities of a medical professional.

Organize your educational background as follows:

College education, such as a bachelor’s or associate degree in a health care-related field.
High school diploma is generally not necessary if you’ve completed higher education.
Licensures and certifications, which are critical in the medical field.

For simplicity and relevance, include licensures and certifications with your educational credentials, particularly if they’re your primary qualifications. Additionally, any academic honors and awards can be highlighted in this section to demonstrate excellence and dedication to your field.

Sample education section for a medical resume:

Education

Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences
Specialization: Public Health
River University, River City, MI
Graduation Date: May 2019

Certifications

Certified Medical Assistant (CMA)
American Association of Medical Assistants
Certification Date: July 2019

Writing tip

Including your GPA can be beneficial if it’s notably high (typically 3.5 or above). However, for medical positions, practical experience, clinical rotations and relevant certifications often carry more weight than academic scores.

Step 6

Create special sections (as needed)

Your experiences in the workplace have shaped you. But what if you don’t have much work history? Or you’ve done many impressive things outside of the workplace?

Your sales resume will be even better if you add a couple of sections that showcase your unique history and abilities. Let’s review a handful of optional sections that tend to appear on sales resumes:

Volunteer experience: Include any health care-related volunteer work, such as assisting at health fairs, participating in community wellness programs or providing support in health education initiatives.
Clinical rotations or externships: These are crucial for new graduates or those with less experience. Detailing your clinical rotations shows hands-on experience and familiarity with patient care, medical procedures and more.
Languages spoken: Proficiency in additional languages is a significant asset in the medical field, enabling better communication with diverse patient populations.
Professional memberships: Membership in relevant organizations, such as the American Medical Association (AMA) or American Nurses Association (ANA), signals a commitment to staying updated on industry best practices.
Hobbies and interests: If you have hobbies or interests that involve skills relevant to health care (like volunteering with health-related NGOs or maintaining a health education blog), they can provide a more complete picture of who you are as a medical professional.

Writing tip

If you’ve received any accolades such as “Employee of the Month” in a clinical setting or recognition for your participation in health initiatives or research, make sure to highlight these honors.

By the way, when it comes to selecting a resume template, those in the medical field often benefit from a layout that is clean and professional, reflecting the seriousness and integrity of their work. For that reason, while creative templates are acceptable, we often recommend a simple or modern template.

Templates designed for medical resumes can often be found online or through professional organizations related to your field. Using a specialized template can help ensure that you’re including all the necessary information that medical recruiters look for.

You can always download templates for Microsoft Word or Google Docs for free.

One final note — don’t forget to proofread! Even honest mistakes could disqualify you for the role.

Next, we’ll show you examples of resume formats.

Medical resume examples by experience level

Gaining practical experience in the medical field is vital, as it opens doors to advanced roles and opportunities.

As your career progresses, this growth also influences how you present yourself on paper. Depending on where you stand in your medical career, there are distinct resume formats to consider:

Those entering the health care field might opt for a skills-based resume format (or functional resume), which highlights relevant abilities over work history.
Medical professionals in the midst of their careers can benefit from a hybrid resume format (or combination resume) that balances skills with a steady work timeline.
Seasoned health care veterans are best served by a reverse-chronological resume format, emphasizing a solid work history and achievements in the field.

Now, let’s explore visual samples of each resume type to better understand why they’re effective.

Entry-level medical resume example

Create your resume

Here’s why this resume works:

Engaging resume objective
Begins with a compelling objective statement that clearly outlines the candidate’s aspirations in health information management and the value they can bring to the role with a positive attitude and a passion for maintaining and organizing medical records.
Well-organized skills sections
Features a professional skills section with bold, eye-catching headers that make it easy for hiring managers to quickly identify key competencies such as record management, data entry and time management.
Relevant education is emphasized
Includes a focus on coursework within the education section, emphasizing areas of study like medical coding. This is particularly beneficial for recent graduates to show how their educational background directly applies to the job.

Midcareer medical resume example

Create your resume

Here’s why this resume works:

Clearly defined career trajectory
The resume presents a crystal-clear work history that showcases progression from an entry-level lab assistant to more advanced technician roles.
Prominent skills section
By placing the skills section prominently at the top of the left-hand column, the resume emphasizes the candidate’s specialized technical abilities. Highlighting skills such as PCR, ELISA and Microscopy prepares the reader for the detailed work history that follows.
Key certifications included
In this field, certifications are often a gatekeeper to advanced positions. The candidate dedicates a specific section to certifications, drawing attention to three essential qualifications they hold.

Experienced medical resume example

Create your resume

Here’s why this resume works:

Sophisticated layout
The resume features an appealing, contemporary design that effectively organizes content with ample white space. This thoughtful spacing invites the reader to engage with the material at a quick glance.
Experience-driven summary
The professional summary is crafted to spotlight the candidate’s extensive experience, emphasizing their history of delivering holistic wellness services and traditional Chinese medicine.
Impactful data presentation
Throughout the work history, the resume doesn’t just list job responsibilities; it quantifies achievements. By including specific data points — such as improved patient outcomes and growth in the clinic’s digital footprint — the candidate demonstrates the value they’ve brought to past roles.

Write a medical cover letter

Create your cover letter

A compelling cover letter is a valuable asset in your job application arsenal. It can even be the difference between getting a call back or waiting by the phone.

Think of your cover letter as the complement to your resume. It’s the space where you can gracefully discuss anything that isn’t quite suited for a resume’s concise format, like explaining a significant break in employment or a pivot into a new medical specialty.

To get started, you can see our guide on how to write a cover letter and review examples that have received professional endorsements. There are resources that provide insight into effective formatting choices.

For those who value efficiency and precision, consider using a Cover Letter Generator, which can suggest industry-specific content tailored to medical roles. You can fine-tune the generated text to ensure it reflects your unique voice and career milestones.

Keep reading to learn more about the potential payoffs to landing a role in the medical field.

Facts about the medical industry

Even the most skilled health care professionals can benefit from understanding what lies ahead in their career journey.

Here’s why a well-crafted medical resume is vital:

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are about 1.8 million new job openings in health care a year.
Median salaries for job titles in this field:
- Medical assistants earn an annual median salary of $38,270
- Occupational therapists earn an annual median salary of $63,450
- Radiation therapists earn an annual median salary of $89,530
Overall employment in the health care and social assistance sectors are expected to add about 2.1 million jobs from 2022 to 2032. This is faster growth than any other sector, growing at an annual rate of 1.0%.

Key takeaways for your medical resume

Show your compassion
Health care is fundamentally about providing quality patient care. Your resume should show your communication skills are equal to your clinical competence.
Tailor your resume for each role
Review each job posting carefully and tailor your resume to highlight the skills and experiences that align with the position’s requirements.
Highlight certifications
Certifications showcase a commitment to your profession and expertise. List relevant certifications prominently on your resume.
Share quantifiable achievements
Health care values outcomes. Present any quantifiable results or improvements you’ve contributed to in your professional experience, such as patient satisfaction scores or efficiency improvements.
Showcase your specialties
Highlight any areas where you excel, whether it’s in patient education, emergency response or a specific area of medicine.
Proofread for perfection
Errors can undermine your credibility. Thoroughly proofread your resume and consider having a colleague review it to ensure accuracy.
Include a compelling cover letter
A well-crafted cover letter can make a powerful impression, demonstrating your commitment and personal investment in your medical career.

Commonly asked question about resume writing

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Don is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with more than 10 years’ experience creating digital content, including four years helping job seekers develop their careers. He holds an M.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University.