NHS Doctor CV Example: Sections, Skills and Structure

A doctor CV for NHS applications separates eligibility from evidence: GMC registration, grade, and required courses such as ALS sit near the top, and the rest of the CV shows clinical experience, audit and quality improvement, teaching, and research post by post. Below is the section order that works, example content for each section, and what changes for a junior doctor CV in the UK.

This structure is designed for NHS doctor applications. For the wider context — format, length, person specifications — see the NHS CV guide; for roles outside the UK, compare with the broader medical CV guide so terminology and registration details translate.

Recommended section order

• Name, contact details, GMC status.
• Short profile naming grade, specialty interest, and strongest fit.
• Certifications and courses, including ALS if required.
• Clinical experience in reverse chronological order.
• Audit, QI, research, publications, and presentations.
• Teaching, leadership, management, and memberships.
• Education and qualifications.

If you want this as a fillable document, the NHS CV template is this exact skeleton as a .docx download.

The example, section by section

Profile — two to three lines, specific to the post:

“GMC-registered doctor with acute medicine and emergency department experience, confident with ward reviews, patient documentation, escalation, and multidisciplinary working. Applying for a trust-grade medicine post with an interest in acute and general internal medicine.”

A clinical experience entry — grade, specialty, trust, dates, then evidence bullets:

• Trust-grade SHO, Acute Medicine — [Teaching Hospital NHS Trust] | Aug 2025 – Present
• Reviewed acute medical admissions under senior supervision, documenting plans and escalating deteriorating patients under local protocol.
• Carried the ward cover bleep for a 28-bed acute unit, prioritizing reviews and handover documentation.
• Completed discharge summaries and TTOs within trust targets during ward rotations.

An audit entry — measured, changed, re-audited:

“Audit of discharge summary completion times against trust standard; collected and analyzed two data cycles, presented findings at departmental teaching, and agreed a proforma change with the supervising consultant before re-audit.”

A teaching entry — audience, format, feedback:

“Weekly bedside teaching for two final-year medical students during their medicine placement, with structured feedback collected; assisted at monthly simulation sessions for foundation doctors.”

Courses and memberships — official names, provider, year, one line each:

• Advanced Life Support (ALS) — Resuscitation Council UK, [year], current.
• [Specialty course, official name] — [provider], [year].
• Member, Royal College of Physicians (or the relevant college for your specialty).

Research and publications follow the same one-line discipline: citation or title, your role, and the year. Include only what you can discuss confidently at interview — a single honest line beats an inflated section.

Write clinical bullets with context

Junior doctor CV example (UK): what changes

For FY1, FY2, and early core or specialty training, the skeleton stays the same but the emphasis shifts — nobody expects a foundation doctor to have led a research programme:

• List rotations compactly: specialty, hospital, and dates on one line each, with detailed bullets only for the most relevant one or two rotations.
• Foundation competencies and sign-offs matter — completion of FY1/FY2 with evidence of curriculum coverage is a real credential; say it plainly.
• Audit participation counts even when you did not lead: name your actual role in the cycle (data collection, analysis, presentation).
• Teaching can be informal: peer teaching, medical student supervision on the ward, and exam-revision sessions are all legitimate entries with an audience and format.
• Keep prizes, electives, and student achievements if they are recent and relevant — they age out as your clinical record grows.
• Two to three pages is enough at this stage; the CV grows with your training record.

What to tailor for each post

For a trust-grade medicine post, move acute ward experience and ALS higher. For a teaching-heavy role, bring teaching and feedback forward. For a specialty application, lead with the rotations, procedures, and audits closest to that specialty. The person specification decides the order — not habit.

Do not let extra sections crowd out clinical fit

Doctors accumulate many possible sections: prizes, conferences, memberships, electives, leadership roles, courses, publications. Include them, but keep them proportionate — if an achievement is old or only loosely related, shorten it to one line and save the detail for applications where that evidence is central.

Before exporting, check the basics: dates are consistent, GMC status is accurate, courses are current, and each section supports the post. The resume checklist catches the small errors that read badly in a safety-critical field. Nursing applicants: the NHS nurse CV checklist is the equivalent pass for NMC posts.