For many international medical graduates (IMGs), the CV with which they apply to residency programs plays a vital role in offering context. While the document will list accomplishments and experiences, the IMG CV also should explain training differences and show residency program leaders how an applicant may fit into the U.S. healthcare system.
During a recent presentation at the AMA IMG Distinguish Yourself Summit, John Andrews, MD, touted the essential importance of an IMG’s CV.
“Your CV is your opportunity to show the world who you are,” said Dr. Andrews, the AMA’s vice president for graduate medical education innovations. “It's not just some rote administrative requirement or a box to tick. It's a chance to tell your story.”
How can IMGs write a CV that shows their unique strengths and how they can fit in a U.S.-based residency program? Dr. Andrews offered these tips.
Highlight U.S. healthcare experiences
A CV should be in reverse chronological order, putting the most recent and most relevant experiences first. Within that chronology, Dr. Andrews advised IMGs that relevant U.S. clinical experience should be clearly included in that chronology.
“If you're seeking residency training in the United States, programs are looking for trainees whom they know can assume the responsibility for the care of patients,” Dr. Andrews said. “If you have relevant U.S clinical experience, it's important to acknowledge that.
“It’s also important to state what the nature of that clinical experience was,” he added. “You really want to describe the clinical experience and say exactly what you did.”
An active, specific description helps residency program officials understand the depth of the experience.
An example he offered was for a CV entry to say: “I examined patients on a daily basis under the supervision of the attending.”
Take care to describe observerships
Observerships are an experience that often gives IMGs vital exposure to the U.S. healthcare system, but students on B-1 or B-2 visas should know what they are permitted to do during that experience.
For aspiring residents with those visa types, an observership is strictly a shadowing experience with no hands-on patient contact. If an applicant says they had direct patient contact during an observership while on a visitor visa, that could suggest they were doing something not permitted by their visa status.
“Observership is a term of art and has to be used carefully,” Dr. Andrews said.
The AMA offers key Match guidance for IMGs, including best practices for residency interviews. Learn more about navigating the process of practicing medicine in the U.S. with the AMA IMG Toolkit (members only).
Don’t let proofreading mute your voice
Dr. Andrews warned that “one of the biggest mistakes that people make is not checking for spelling and grammatical errors.” That point can carry added weight for applicants writing in English as an additional language.
Because of that, Dr. Andrews suggested that “AI may be a helpful tool in checking for grammar and spelling, especially if you come from a different cultural language background.”
Still, he highlighted the importance of authenticity in messaging. Having a peer or even an AI tool give your resume an edit for grammar and spelling is one thing. Any help should stop short of replacing the applicant’s perspective.
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), which oversees the MyERAS platform through which most aspiring residents apply, permits AI use in certain areas of the application creation—such as brainstorming or copy editing an existing document. But the AAMC’s clear red line is that the final product should be one that is written by the residency applicant. This is particularly applicable to the creation of one’s personal statement.
Clearly explain training gaps
One’s path to medicine is not going to be linear, and training gaps can pop up in the CV of even the highest-caliber residency applicant, regardless of whether they earned their medical degree in the U.S. or elsewhere. Still, if those gaps are unexplained, it might leave room for questions.
If you weren’t actually in training but were working in a relevant space or preparing for your career in medicine in another fashion, you should list that on your CV, Dr. Andrews said.
“Don’t leave blank space where explanation would help,” he said. “If a period of time mattered in your professional path, label it clearly and account for it.”
If you can’t clearly explain a gap within your CV, another avenue Dr. Andrews touted was the residency application’s experiences section, which also can be used widely to help offer essential context.
