Medical Student CV Writing Session
Review Checklist
CONTENT
Overall Content:
All information is truthful and accurate. (Information could be easily verified from sources other
than CV.)
Descriptions do not overstate experience (e.g., "padding") or understate experience.
CV appears targeted to appropriate audience (e.g., focus on health care related experience for
residency applications).
Outdated information is not included.
Contact Information:
Name, address, phone number(s) and e-mail are included on the top of first page, and are legible.
University email or other appropriate, professional email address is used.
Personal information such as sex, age, race and martial status is NOT included.
Education:
Education is accurately represented, including full, formal names of institutions and dates of
attendance (reverse chronological).
Included are only institutions where a formal degree was conferred (e.g., no study abroad years,
summer enrichment programs, or institutions began but transferred out of).
MD entry does not imply that degree has been received if it has not been: correct month and year of
Commencement is used along with descriptor "Expected" or "Anticipated."
High school information is not included.
Experience Sections:
Experience sections (e.g., work, research, teaching, volunteer, community service, internships, cocurricular/leadership) are appropriately labeled to reflect content and ordered appropriately to
highlight strengths and current CV purpose.
Each experience entry includes organization, position, city, state, dates (months and years in reverse
chronological order).
Experience is described using bulleted descriptions that begin with strong action verbs, ~or~
narrative full sentences (including correct punctuation) with strong action verbs.
Experience is included that is highly relevant to current CV use, that student spent a significant
period of time involved in, or both.
Accomplishments (not merely "duties" or "responsibilities") are included and quantified when
appropriate.
Research, Publications, Presentations Sections:
Research experience (if applicable) includes (a) project title, (b) brief description of study, (c) actionoriented bullets or narrative sentences describing student role and accomplishments (see
experiences section above), (d) name and title of the professor(s)/PI who supervised the project, (e)
name of the institution, department, city and state, and (f) the beginning and ending dates.
If applicable, publications (papers, articles, chapters in books, etc.) include complete bibliographic
information in a citation format consistent with the student’s discipline, listed in reverse
chronological order.
Adapted from:
Erin Lowery, M.Ed., VCU University Career Center, Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Services
Anita M. Navarro, M.Ed., VCU School of Medicine Student Affairs Office
Indra Kancitis, M.D., VCU School of Medicine Pediatrics Department
Medical Student CV Writing Session
Review Checklist
Publications (if applicable) include all co-authors, in the order they appeared in print, with the
student's name in bold.
If applicable, included are only scholarly presentations, conference/workshop presentations, poster
presentations and/or conference leadership presentations. Presentations made as part of required
academic component are not included.
Each presentation item (if applicable) is listed in reverse chronological order and includes (a) the
name of the presenter(s), (b) the title of the presentation, (c) name of the conference/organization,
and (d) meeting location and date.
Additional Sections:
Additional sections (e.g., awards, honors, professional memberships, interests, grants and
fellowships) are included if appropriate, significant and relevant, and sections are ordered
appropriately to highlight strengths and current purpose of CV.
Awards/honors (if applicable) includes (a) title of award/honor, (b) institution and location (city and
state), (c) the date received, (d) brief description if not a commonly-known award/honor.
Reviewer comments about content:
FORMAT AND ORGANIZATION
Category headings are appropriate for the student’s level of experience.
Relevant experience is emphasized.
Name and page number is included on pages two and up as either header or footer.
CV can be skimmed in seven to ten seconds.
Margins are at least one inch on all four sides.
Font size is at least 11 and is consistent throughout the CV (except for first page name and contact
info heading).
A conservative font type is used (e.g., Times New Roman or Arial).
Bold, italics, underlining and capitalization are used effectively and sparingly.
Spacing between categories is consistent (number of returns).
Use of tabs and indentation of items are consistent.
There is plenty of white space; the CV is balanced and not overcrowded.
Category headings are consistent and stand out from the text to make skills and qualifications easier
to find.
Name is larger than the rest of the text, but is not too large (14 or 16 font size is sufficient).
Reviewer comments about format and organization:
Adapted from:
Erin Lowery, M.Ed., VCU University Career Center, Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Services
Anita M. Navarro, M.Ed., VCU School of Medicine Student Affairs Office
Indra Kancitis, M.D., VCU School of Medicine Pediatrics Department
Medical Student CV Writing Session
Review Checklist
GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION AND SPELLING
The appropriate verb tense is used in experience descriptions, i.e. present tense for current
experience and past tense for past experience.
Date formats are consistent (e.g., 11/2012 or November 2012).
Seasons are capitalized when associated with a date (e.g., Spring 2010).
Numbers between one and nine are written out; Numerals are used for numbers 10 and above.
All proper nouns are capitalized.
Sentences starting with numbers spell out that number.
Use of punctuation is consistent (e.g., periods at end of descriptions are used consistently or not at
all).
Exclamation points are avoided.
There are no commas between month and year.
All words (including proper names) are spelled correctly and used appropriately.
All CAPITALIZED words are spelled correctly. (Spell-check does not check these.)
CV is not wordy and extraneous words and phrases are avoided (e.g., "Responsibilities included…").
Reviewer comments about grammar, punctuation and spelling:
GENERAL COMENTS:
Adapted from:
Erin Lowery, M.Ed., VCU University Career Center, Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Services
Anita M. Navarro, M.Ed., VCU School of Medicine Student Affairs Office
Indra Kancitis, M.D., VCU School of Medicine Pediatrics Department