To begin, résumés and curricula vitae (CVs) are not the same thing. A CV, which you probably have, is a chronological listing of what you did and where and when you did it. It's a sort of professional life chart. A list of credentials. Other than portraying your educational and experience history accurately, it has no particular goal and makes no particular point. Readers make of it what they can. Physicians are familiar with this kind of document.

A résumé is a business document designed to market you in commercial or non-clinical markets. The French root is résumé, which means a summary. It's accomplishment based. It answers the employer's pointed questions, "What have you done before, and why should I think you can do things like that for me?"

Since doctors usually hire other doctors to practice their specialties based on their experience and education, CVs often suffice, sometimes followed up with reviews of their references. Many physicians have gone through both sides of those interactions, and they're old hat. Your résumé is different, both in content and in the business way you have to think about it. The following chart shows the differences.