Medical student CV example

What recruiters look for

• Exam results and clerkship grades: Step 1 pass, the Step 2 CK score (or COMLEX Level 2-CE) and honors in the clerkships closest to your specialty. Program directors look here first.
• Commitment to the specialty: a sub-internship, away rotation, research or interest-group role in the field you are applying to.
• Scholarly work you can talk about: papers, abstracts and posters, with your place in the author list. Interviewers ask about anything on the CV.
• Service and leadership: student-run clinics, curriculum committees, community work. Show your role and its size, not only membership.
• Something that makes you memorable: a language, a previous career, a long-running project. It gives an interviewer a thread to pull.

Writing the summary

On a medical student CV the summary is a short statement of clinical and research interests, not a sales pitch. Name the specialty you are applying to and two or three specific topics you have actually worked on. Keep it to two sentences; the rest of the page provides the evidence.

Bullet points that work

Strong lines for this role, beyond the ones in the example. Borrow the shape and put in your own numbers.

• Completed a 4-week neurology sub-internship, carrying up to 6 inpatients and presenting at daily stroke team rounds.
• Co-authored 3 peer-reviewed papers and 4 conference abstracts on outcomes after cardiac surgery.
• Built a REDCap database for a 250-patient retrospective study and trained 5 students to abstract charts consistently.
• Directed a student-run free clinic with 80 volunteers, expanding hours from 1 to 2 evenings a week.
• Taught a 10-session physical exam skills course to 30 first-year students, rated 4.8 out of 5.
• Elected class representative to the curriculum committee for 2 years; helped move the Step 1 study period earlier.
• Translated discharge instructions into Spanish for a hospital quality project covering 1,200 patients a year.
• Presented a case report of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis at a regional neurology meeting with 200 attendees.
• Shadowed and scribed for 900 hours in an emergency department before medical school.

Skills to list

Certifications and licenses worth listing

• BLS and ACLS (American Heart Association): most schools require them before clerkships; list both with the year.
• USMLE or COMLEX results: not certifications, but put them under your MD entry so nobody hunts for them.
• CITI Program human subjects research training: worth a line if you are applying for research roles.
• PALS or NRP: list them if you completed them for a pediatrics or emergency rotation.

Length and format

One page is right for most students; MD/PhD students and those with several first-author papers can use two. Order: interests statement, education (with exam results and honors), research, publications, grants, teaching, presentations, service, then certifications and languages. Use standard headings so it matches the sections of your ERAS application.

Common mistakes

• Listing a paper as “submitted” or “in preparation” without saying so clearly. Mark the status honestly; program directors check.
• Padding with every interest group you joined once. Keep roles where you did something you can describe.
• Leaving out pre-medical school work. Research, scribing or a previous career shows maturity and is often an interview topic.
• Putting an exam score you are unhappy with in a hard-to-find place. Readers notice hiding more than the number.
• Formatting author lists inconsistently. Pick one citation style and bold or underline nothing but your own name if you highlight at all.