The cover letter is one of the most important elements of any physician job application. The hunt for the perfect job is on and you’ve been sitting in front of a blank Word document for hours? No problem! We are happy to assist you with advice and support you in creating an optimal doctor application. The cover letter is the basis for getting your foot in the door.
An individual application with the presentation of your own strengths and qualifications is today the basic requirement for a successful application. In addition, it must be clearly presented why you would like to work for this practice / clinic in particular. So, the application as a doctor must be customized for each employer.
Today, these are the deciding criteria for whether your application will end up in the trash or whether it will be the application that gets the residency job.
Doctors application – cover letter maximum one page
The cover letter in the physician application should be a maximum of one DIN A 4 page long.
This one page should not be too crowded so that there is hardly any space left at the end for the signature. The cover letter should be written concisely and concretely. The people in the HR department don’t want: too much creativity or, for example, long-winded explanations or bulleted lists – no one wants to read all of this.
The motto is: Keep it short and get straight to the point.
Individual cover letter
Every cover letter must be tailor-made for the addressee. If you are looking for a job and want to find the perfect job for you, you have to present yourself and deliver a perfectly coordinated cover letter for the respective clinic.
Even if you send out 30 applications, each of the 30 bosses should get the impression from your cover letter that you have researched his or her house in detail and that this is exactly where you want to go. That means: study the homepages of the hospitals carefully. Where are the focal points? What specializations does the hospital have? Is it center for a special kind of intervention? Try to summarize in one or two sentences why you want to go exactly to this house.
Clinics are looking for certain skills and strengths that you possess exactly? Then show this to the head physician already in your application and bring it to the point, why you are exactly the right assistant physician, who has the best possible qualifications and personal strengths to fill the position of this hospital perfectly.
The introduction and the first sentence of the doctor application
The beginning, and therefore the first sentence, is always the most difficult. But this is already where the wheat is separated from the chaff. Because here you leave the first impression with the specialist or head physician and this impression is known to be the most important one. There are two very important things to consider here, which you can use as clear advantages in your application as an assistant physician.
The first lesson is: know and use the name of the addressee of the cover letter. You are applying to senior physician Dr. Muller? Your cover letter should read "Dear Doctor Muller" and not "Dear Sir or Madam". The name is not mentioned in writing? Call the clinic or the practice and ask them. By mentioning your name, the doctor feels directly addressed personally and sees that you are not using a standard cover letter. Even better: get to know the boss personally on the phone beforehand. Ask him one or two things about the advertised position, make personal contact, be courteous and friendly so that the boss can remember you when he reads your application.
The second lesson is that the standard phrase "I hereby apply…" is neither individual nor creative. Draft your own sentence and set yourself apart from 50 percent of the applicants who do not pay attention to these two things! Describe briefly and to the point why you are interested in the position and why you are the right person for the job. Examples: Referring to our friendly telephone conversation on 07.07.2015 I hereby send you my application documents" or "For our friendly phone call of 07.07.In 2015, I would like to thank you very much once again. As discussed, I hereby apply for a position as an assistant surgeon in your company.".
This way, with an individual cover letter and a creative first sentence, you will have made a good impression right away and aroused interest to read on.
The main part – your personal profile
The clinic is looking, you offer. Now, in the main part, it is important to explain individually for each clinic or practice why you best meet the requirement profile and what your personal motivation is for precisely this position as an assistant physician.
In order to achieve this in the best possible way, you should go through the job offer step by step and address as many of the skills and abilities you are looking for as possible.
First, briefly introduce yourself, state your age, where you studied, what you majored in, and when your exam was (or will be).
Once you have completed this introduction to the main part, go into the requirements profile of the clinic individually as described and link it to your personal strengths, your experience and your qualifications. Describe exactly why you have chosen this particular subject.
You have completed a specific clinical elective in your studies, a practical year in targeted specialty, worked as a tutor, or already done various courses, working on exactly the things the clinic is looking for? Take advantage of all of these! If you have done a doctoral thesis and it is ready to be published (i.e. it is realistically close to completion), you should also mention it. Especially at university hospitals this is still very popular.
Present your previous career individually, link it to what the clinic is looking for and explain why you have described yourself as a doctor in this field. "My interest in internal medicine was aroused early in my studies during a clinical elective" or "During my practical year, my decision to work as a pediatrician was strengthened". Write what aspects of the subject you are particularly interested in or fascinated by and link it individually to the clinic you are applying to. Why do you want to practice your favorite subject at this hospital?? This can sound something like: "In addition to the great variety of patients, the proximity to research is one of the advantages of a university department" or "Your internal medicine department offers me excellent opportunities to combine my holistic interest in patients in a challenging work environment with the prospect of specialization in the fields of nephrology and diabetology".
You can garnish the cover letter with a few personal strengths, such as your reliability, your talent for organization, your structured approach, your skill in dealing with patients, i.e. all the qualities with which you "would like to contribute to the team at the clinic".
The conclusion
Just as the first impression is the most important one, you can also leave a good impression with the conclusion. There are two simple things in particular to keep in mind here.
First, end the cover letter with an invitation, such as "I look forward to your invitation to meet you in person at your office" or "I would be very pleased to receive an invitation to a personal interview".
Second, use the standard words "Yours sincerely" to close. Avoid too confidential phrases like "Sincerely" or other deviating phrases like "Yours sincerely" in your farewell greeting.
Faultlessness
One last tip to conclude. Read your cover letter several times to find mistakes. It’s best to print it out, on paper it’s even easier to find possible mistakes. Is the name of the addressee spelled correctly? Is the title correct? Have you written the polite form correctly (namely capitalized) everywhere? Is the punctuation correct?? Are there any typos? If possible, have another person read over your cover letter. Sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees.
Signature
At the end of the application letter, as in any other application, you should sign it. The signature again adds the final personal touch to the application and documents that the information is correct.
And that’s it – basically it’s not witchcraft. Conclusion: Be creative, be individual, do self-marketing, respond to the advertised position – and you will be far ahead of the majority of applicants! We wish you good luck with your application!
In addition to the cover letter, the curriculum vitae is of course also relevant. Here you can find all information about the Resume.
Physician Sample Application
Every application is easier when you have a sample to follow. Nevertheless, you should of course not copy a sample one to one and take over everything in your doctor application. As described before, it is important in today’s world to personalize the doctor cover letter.
Nevertheless, we would like to provide you with a sample application letter. You can find the doctor sample application here: Doctor Sample Application
Apply now as a doctor – on to the job search
You want to use what you have learned to write your application directly? Here you come directly to praktischArzt.en for the search of Residency positions.
All other job offers in the area of clinical traineeship, PJ and specialist can be found directly via the top menu job offers.
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