Your resume is more than a quick summation of your past experiences; it is a snapshot of who you are, a complement to your personal statement and medical school application, and a persuasive marketing tool. Prior to applying to medical school, many applicants do not have a wide range of medical experiences to draw from (including publications, research and conferences), and may actually have no experience creating a standout resume. How then do you successfully elevate your candidacy via your resume?

Here are five resume tips to keep in mind:

1) Use bullet points to reveal hidden strengths and real impact. “Helped physicians perform physical exams” and “offered emotional and academic support to peers” leaves out critical information. We advise all applicants to use the ‘Situation-Action-Result’ formula for bullets. Why were you needed in these roles? Did you undergo specific counseling training or master new skills in the process? What was your impact?

2) Demonstrating leadership is crucial. This can be considered from a macro-/structural and micro-/content level. Many applicants bucket their education, observerships, publications and certifications under individual subheadings, but do not use extracurricular activities as a vehicle for leadership. While ‘Social Co-Chair’ at your fraternity or sorority sounds like a fluffy (and yet fun…) position, managing the social media campaign for a charity concert is not.

3) Tease out transferable skills. At first glance, your summer internship at MoMA or the German Embassy may not be completely relevant to your career in medicine. However, the logistics and teamwork behind the curation of a large-scale exhibition, as well as the communication skills required in a global and hierarchical governmental position, are absolutely transferable to the medical context.

4) Don’t overlook “Education” and “Additional” subheadings. Whether you’re applying for medical school or a summer research position, “Education” can capture details about skills you gained inside a course or notable accomplishments. The “Additional” subheading is a perfect spot for other hobbies and intellectual interests (remember you’re a person, not a robot), languages you speak (Mandarin, Pharaonic), affiliations and other skills.

5) Step back from your resume and evaluate balance. This is a crucial step most applicants forget.  Every resume tells a story. Where are the gaps in yours? Do dates properly align? Is student leadership balanced with academic achievement and clinical or research experience? Are certain bullet points repetitious—will your reader learn something new from each? Are your hobbies or interests interesting, too idiosyncratic, or mind-numbingly quotidian?

Remember that your resume is NOT a laundry list of completed tasks (e.g. 1) paid the gas bill, 2) mowed the lawn, and 3) baked a Vegan meatloaf); rather, it is a marketing opportunity waiting to be seized. So, when structuring your resume, fleshing out bullet points, and refining your story, remember to seize it!

Cheers,

Ivy Eyes Editing

www.ivyeyesediting.com

“Inspiration may be a form of super-consciousness, or
perhaps of subconsciousness—I wouldn’t know. But I am
sure it is the antithesis of self-consciousness.”

~Aaron Copland

The 2013 American Medical College Application Service® (AMCAS®) opens on May 1st, 2012. While you’re waiting to submit your AMCAS application, what should you be doing?

Begin working on your personal statement. Our Premiere Service works exactly how we advise all our readers and prospective clients to begin: with a stream-of-consciousness, free-flowing brainstorming stage. The important caveat to remember here is that no story is too big or too small. If your volunteering experience had more personal, emotional gravity for you, that may be the stronger narrative centerpiece than the time you shadowed a local pediatrician; however, you won’t know this until you’ve really put a pen to paper.

How many times do we take the time to sit and self-actualize? This is precisely what makes admissions writing so uniquely challenging. Fortunately, the physical act of writing and truly stream-of-consciousness brainstorming will help you to reduce your inhibitions as a writer, applicant, and person, and begin your ‘story excavation’ more openly.

Next, plan the framework for your essay. A structure gives any great story momentum, and your personal statement is no different. What points do you need to touch on? What inconsistencies in your resume need to be contextualized? How much did your grades dip sophomore year–and when is the best moment to address that? What leadership roles speak to your strengths? What moments of clarity or self-reflection are worth sharing with your reader?

After you build your framework, you can begin the writing process, integrating material (verbatim) from your (hopefully) prolific brainstorming session. Your first revision SHOULD be unwieldy–10,000 characters vs 5300 characters. The subsequent revisions represent a vital part of the editing process: sculpting down your statement to maintain framework, your voice, and a sense of authenticity. Another set of eyes can help you look out for the glaring admission essay no-no’s, which we’ve written about frequently here at Ivy Eyes.

Still looking for things to do? Applications cannot be submitted until early June, but here is a list of what applicants can, and should, do as soon as the system opens: Download transcript request forms and send them to registrars. Send your letters of reference to AMCAS® (via the AMCAS® Letter Writer Application, Interfolio, VirtualEvals (available only to prehealth advisors), or snail mail.) Enter all biographic information in the application. Update your resume. And continue to polish that statement!

Cheers,

Ivy Eyes Editing

www.ivyeyesediting.com