How to Build a CV in Medical School
Do you need a CV?
You’ve worked so hard to get into medical school. You’ve done your volunteering, work experience, read all your books and you’ve finally got in. So now what? Unfortunately, you still need to build a CV so set yourself apart from everyone else if you want to intercalate, if you want to apply for summer schools or schemes, and, most importantly, for after you graduate. Fortunately, there are several different ways that you can help to build your CV that can be altered to suit everyone.
Societies
One of the main ways that people build their CVs is through societies, specifically being on committee in societies. If you know what specialities you are interested in, it’s really helpful to be on committee on those speciality societies – not only does it show your interest, but you can also get quite a few different contacts through the society which can help you with work experience and research.
Sports societies and other societies which have a competition team can also be really helpful to join. You do not need to be the top of the top to be able to compete – most societies will have entry-level, beginner competitions specifically aimed towards those who have no experience in that field until they start University. Most competitions are also on the weekend, so you don’t have to miss teaching or placement to attend them.
The final way that societies can help with your CV is through starting up your own society. Be it a specialty that you’re interested in that doesn’t have a society in your University or a pastime that you like, starting up a society looks amazing on your CV. Oftentimes, this is a lot of work, so don’t worry if you don’t know what you want it to be in or if you don’t have the time.
Research
Research is one of the main ways people build their CVs. Be it independent research, working under a professor, working in an international team or auditing, it can be really helpful, especially if it’s in a speciality you’re interested in for the future. This usually has to be done very independently, usually through emailing other researchers, lecturers, or doctors on placement and seeing whether you can either hop onto one of their projects, or asking them to be a supervisor for a project you are interested in. Research can be submitted to a journal, spoken at a conference or presented as a poster presentation, and your supervisor will be able to tell you which one.
Teaching
Teaching can be in the form of mentoring, tutoring or seminar/webinar work. There are several tutoring websites that you can sign up to, and several medical schools will have mentoring schemes where you can sign up and teach people in the younger years. Some medical schools are also open to students submitting different revision resources that can then be distributed to students in the future.
Learning
Attending conferences, webinars and attending courses regarding gaining deeper knowledge shows that you are taking initiative to improve your learning. Although medicine-focussed conferences are really beneficial, having proficiency in external skills can also be beneficial. This includes things such as learning other languages, learning about disabilities and social care, learning about religions to understand your patient community and learning about ethical dilemmas. Learning can also happen on placement, and showing an interest in each speciality that you have a placement in, as well as a good performance on placement, can result in you getting a ‘green card’ or your medical school’s equivalent, which is basically a commendation of the effort that you have put into your placement. Further, oftentimes Universities will give commendations for people when they do well in exams or assignments.
Jobs
Similar to every other degree, a big way of building a CV is having a job. It can either be a medicine focussed job, just as an HCA, a carer, a support worker, a pharmacist or other medical careers, or something completely separate such as working in a restaurant, in a shop, at a call centre or anything else. Similar to when you applied for medical school, the main benefits come not from the type of work, but how you can reflect from it.
Extra Curriculars
The final important way to build a CV is through extra curriculars. This could be through sports, playing an instrument, keeping up a hobby or anything else. It shows you have a life outside of medicine and helps with your wellbeing in general.
Certificates
Most medical schools will advocate for students to create a ‘portfolio’, which is a selection of evidence of everything you have done. The majority of the time, this will be through certificates, which you should receive after any bit of extended learning, teaching, society involvement or anything else you have been involved in. The availability of getting certificates is often stated before you will do something, but even if it isn’t directly advertised, there is no harm in asking for one.
How much should you do?
The answer to this is simple: however much you feel comfortable doing while still protecting your physical, mental and social wellbeing. Medicine changes year on year, and within each year there are different times when you are going to have more on your plate than others, so year on year you can alter how much you can do. Certain things such as societies are easier to do in the earlier years of medical school as you have more time and you aren’t as constrained by being on placement, whereas research is better to do later on in medical school as you will have more knowledge and experience, which will increase your chances of being able to find a supervisor and get published. It depends on you and how you can reflect, and this is very much a guide of your options as opposed to a list of things you have to complete in order to have a competitive CV.