Dermatologist Resume Examples & Writing Guide

This is a condensed two-page resume for a mid-career dermatologist in private practice. The doctor, the practices and the numbers are invented but realistic. A physician recruiter or practice administrator scans the top block for license, board status and procedure mix, then goes straight to volume.

Physicians are the one group in the US who normally send a CV, not a resume, and dermatology is no exception. The CV has no length limit and lists everything: training, licensure, hospital appointments, publications, presentations, teaching, committees. Keep one master CV and cut a shorter version when the job calls for it.

• License and board status. Which states you hold an active license in, whether it is unrestricted, and whether you are board certified, board eligible, or within the ABD certification window. Write the year you certified.
• Your clinical mix. Roughly what share of your clinic is medical, surgical and cosmetic. A group hiring for a busy general practice does not want a resume that reads as 90% aesthetics, and the reverse is also true.
• Volume and productivity. Patients per day, clinical days per week, annual visits, wRVUs, biopsies and excisions. Practices are buying capacity.
• Practical availability. Start date, whether you need a visa (J-1 waiver or H-1B), and whether you will take call or cover satellites. Put this at the end, not the top, but do put it somewhere.

“The dermatology CVs that stall are the ones where the training dates do not line up or the board status is vague. Credentialing will find it anyway, so tell me straight: certified in what year, licensed in which states, and any gap explained in one line. Then show me your daily volume, because that is what the practice is really buying.”

A physician CV does not always need a summary, but four or five lines at the top help when a non-physician administrator screens first. Keep it factual and lead with board status.

Almost every dermatologist "diagnoses and treats skin conditions". That line tells a reader nothing. Give the volume, the case mix and the outcome you can defend.

This is the part credentialing reads twice. Use exact names and years, and never round a date to hide a gap. A three-month gap with a one-line explanation is fine; an unexplained one is a phone call you do not want.

1. 1Licensure: list every state license, its status (active, inactive, unrestricted) and the year first issued. Add DEA registration and any state controlled substance registration, since some states require a separate one. Do not print full license or DEA numbers on a public copy.
2. 2Board certification: "Diplomate, American Board of Dermatology, certified 2018" and your Continuing Certification status. Osteopathic physicians may be certified through the American Osteopathic Board of Dermatology instead. If you have passed the boards but not yet certified, write "board eligible" and the date of your exam.
3. 3Subspecialty: dermatopathology is a joint subspecialty of the American Board of Dermatology and the American Board of Pathology. Pediatric dermatology and micrographic dermatologic surgery are ABD subspecialties. Name the exact one you hold.
4. 4Fellowship: give the type (for example an ACGME-accredited micrographic surgery and dermatologic oncology fellowship), the institution and the dates.
5. 5Residency and internship: dermatology residency is three years after a PGY-1 year, so show both. List the internship type (transitional, internal medicine, general surgery).
6. 6Memberships: American Academy of Dermatology (add FAAD after your name only if you are a Fellow), American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, American College of Mohs Surgery for Mohs surgeons, plus your state dermatology society.

Group the list so a reader can see the shape of your practice at a glance. Only claim procedures you would be happy to do next Monday.

• Medical dermatology: acne and rosacea, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, hidradenitis suppurativa, autoimmune blistering disease, cutaneous lupus, alopecia, drug eruptions, complex wound care.

• Diagnostics and procedures: dermoscopy, shave, punch and excisional biopsy, ED&C, cryotherapy, intralesional injection, nail surgery, patch testing, KOH and Tzanck preparation, narrowband UVB phototherapy, photodynamic therapy.

• Surgical and cosmetic: excision with flap and graft repair, Mohs micrographic surgery if fellowship trained, botulinum toxin, dermal fillers, chemical peels, pulsed dye, fractional and hair removal lasers, sclerotherapy.

• Systems and administrative: ModMed EMA, Epic, Nextech, e-prescribing and prior authorizations, iPLEDGE and other REMS programs, MIPS quality reporting, ICD-10 and CPT coding for dermatology, supervision and chart review for PAs and NPs, teledermatology.

A dermatologist CV runs two to four pages early in a career and can pass ten pages in academic medicine. That is normal and nobody will hold it against you. What matters is the order.

• Order for practice jobs: contact, summary, licensure and certification, clinical experience, procedures, education and training, then publications and presentations at the end.
• Order for academic jobs: education and training first, then appointments, research funding, publications, teaching, service; clinical volume moves down.
• No photo, no date of birth, no marital status, no home street address. Country conventions differ, but this is the US standard.
• Reverse chronological, month and year for every training and job entry, no gaps left silent.
• Send a PDF named for yourself, for example raghunathan-cv-2026.pdf. Credentialing offices file dozens of these a week.
• For industry or medical affairs roles, cut to two pages, translate procedure volume into project and leadership language, and keep only the five most relevant publications.