A well-written cover letter is the icing on the cake for your physician CV. Take advantage of the opportunity to personalize your CV and explain why you chose a healthcare career. This may be your only chance to make it stand out and grab the attention of employers with its formal, well-structured format. You can be looser with your sentence flow in the cover letter (while still adhering to professional ethics), demonstrating your humane personality through your articulated intention. With some samples and best practices, we will help you write the perfect physician cover letter. This article will show you how to write a cover letter narrative that will catch the attention of your future employer.
What makes a good cover letter?
A great cover letter is conversational, well-thought-out, optimistic, professional, and at most one page long. Use this three-paragraph text to showcase your skills and experiences as a healthcare professional, and demonstrate how you will contribute to the job you’re applying for, beyond what’s written on your CV.
Most job-search portals available today are AI-optimized. Therefore, writing the right keywords about your skills and expertise to match the job requirement is the only way for your application to pass the initial candidate screening process. Then, after conducting comprehensive research on the hospital you’re about to enter, try to connect the dots with what you write. In short, your cover letter should demonstrate your suitability for the position by demonstrating your competence, professionalism, and genuine personality.
Grab their attention, express your intent, and make your potential employer want to learn more after reading your cover letter.
The proper format for your cover letter
The last thing a prospective employer wants to see from a candidate is flaws at first glance, so format and structure your cover letter neatly before you write. Here’s how to create a professional-looking, business-standard layout for your cover letter.
Cover Letter Header
The CV article taught you to avoid using decorative formatting. The same is true for this cover letter, beginning with the header. Your cover letter header must include the following information:
- Your legal name accompanied by professional titles
- Your official address and contact information
- The cover letter should identify the person to whom it is addressed and their medical institution
- The medical institution’s address
Example:
Jose Rizal MD
1111 Quezon City
Metro Manila, PH 11223
(+63)-123-0000
r.jose@xmail.com
To: Dr Aurelia Morales
San Lazaro Hospital
1003 Quiricada St.
Metro Manila, PH 33000
Headline
Your cover letter’s headline or subject line goes right under the header. It should include your application code (if you have one) or the job keyword you want.
Example:
PH-09 Application for Family Physician Position
It keeps your application from getting mixed up with other job applications and helps your recruiter put it in the right category.
Cover Letter Intro
Now for the letter’s content. The first paragraph includes an introduction to the person to whom you are writing, a one-line summary of yourself in a professional context, and the purpose of your letter. Do your best to write the correct words while displaying a little bit of your personality. Why? Because this is your first chance to pique your future employer’s interest and entice them to read on. Try to be concise, warm, and upbeat in your writing. Mention anyone who has recommended you for this position.
Example:
Dear Dr Morales,
My name is Jose Rizal. I’m writing to express my interest in the position of a Senior Family Physician at San Lazaro Hospital. Dr Carlos of Adventist Medical Center’s Family Medicine Department, my former supervisor during my internship, has recommended me. He spoke positively about your expertise and thought I would be a good fit for your team based on my previous performance and achievements under his mentorship.
Body
While your key skills and expertise are described in detail on your CV, the body of your cover letter can provide further context about your endeavors in the healthcare industry. You can write about why you chose to be a doctor or how, while volunteering, you realized that your medical background allowed you to contribute more to humanity. Tell them about your proudest moment while demonstrating humility as a young doctor seeking greater meaning through their hospital.
Example:
I’ve been a practicing Family Physician for three years, with an educational background from The Adventist University of the Philippines. In addition, I volunteered for the World Vision Philippines for two years during my spare time in residency. Given my technical skills as a Family Physician and leadership skills developed through organizational work, I am looking for a more challenging role as Senior Family Physician in your department.
Conclusion
Three cover letter paragraphs are sufficient to impress your future employer and entice them to read more about your professional background in your physician CV. To conclude, thank the recipient for reviewing your application in this final paragraph. Close with the courtesy of looking forward to their follow-up and your eagerness to join their team. Now you’re ready to writing a cover letter for physician job yourself!
Are you a doctor looking for a new role in the healthcare industry? Here at Doctor Jobs Today, we provide the most reliable and well-curated vacancies from the best medical institutions in the Philippines. You can also access various recommendations and guidelines to help you stay on track. Get your CV ready and find your future career in Doctor Jobs Today, now!
About Doctor Jobs Today
Doctor Jobs Today is the first job-seeking platform in Southeast Asia dedicated to serving the job-searching needs of healthcare professionals. We have created a space to connect employers and medical job seekers seamlessly. As part of the healthcare community, we aim to cater to medical doctors for their vacancy inquiries better than traditional job portals. With Docquity, you will only get job options that are relevant to you, sourced from the prestigious healthcare institutions in the country, because we are just as picky as you are!
Doctor Jobs Today has all the suitable vacancies you’re dreamed about: a higher general practitioner salary, a better-equipped hospital for your specialization, or even a career shift from patient care.
About Docquity
If your educational and professional experience has not been sufficient to make your CV pop, expanding the network to other healthcare professionals to practice peer-to-peer learning might be the answer. One way to do it is by joining a social platform for healthcare professionals, such as Docquity.
Docquity is an AI-based state-of-the-art private & secure continual learning network of verified doctors, bringing you real-time knowledge from thousands of doctors worldwide. Today, Docquity has over 300,000 doctors spread across six countries in Asia.
Meet experts and trusted peers across Asia where you can safely discuss clinical cases, get up-to-date insights from webinars and research journals, and earn CME/CPD credits through certified courses. All with the ease of a mobile app available on Android & iOS platforms!
available on Android & iOS platforms!
