Medical Cover Letter Example

In typical circumstances, medical professionals are in a high-demand and need to cope with high stress situations. In these extraordinary times, when both conditions are heightened, hiring managers need qualified staff who can handle the pressure with grace and excellence. You are ready for a change and a great medical professional cover letter will make those hiring managers’ hearts beat a little faster. 

Shelter-in-place and other pandemic restrictions hit the non-emergency medical field hard and employers are taking time to reassess their needs, according to CompHealth, so you may have to have a bit more patience before you start seeing patients again.

In this market, your medical cover letter is all the more important. How do you write one that shows off your temperament and talent without getting veering into bragging or flowery language? Resume.io is here to help.

In this cover letter guide, along with the corresponding medical cover letter examples, we’ll cover the following topics to help you design the best cover letter possible:

• How to choose the best cover letter format and what paragraphs the cover letter should include
• How to maximize the effect of each cover letter paragraph (header, greeting, intro, body and conclusion)
• What approach to take when writing your cover letter
• What mistakes to avoid when writing your medical cover letter.

The guide below will analyze the details and give you ideas on how to make the most of this one-page addition to your application. (You can also check out our library of 125+ cover letter examples.)

Best format for a medical cover letter

Before a doctor meets a patient, they check their chart to understand better how to proceed. The format for your cover letter charts its course the same way. Here is the skeleton you will use to create your medical cover letter:

• The cover letter header
• The greeting / salutation
• The cover letter intro
• The middle paragraphs (body of the letter)
• The ending paragraph of your cover letter (conclusion and call-to-action)

The cover letter complements your resume and allows you to get into more detail. To make the most of this addition to your job application, deliver a strong argument for your qualifications by adopting the correct tone and addressing the needs of each clinic, hospital or practice you apply to. Use strong action words and descriptors throughout.

This comprehensive cover letter guide is an impressive stop for general advice on writing cover letters, but this text gets deeper into each paragraph and the specifics of writing for position in the medical field.

The medical cover letter example below gives an overview of how to create your own application:

Cover letter header

The header of your medical professional cover letter has two purposes:

1. Announce your name, email and phone contact information to recruiters so they can easily reach you to schedule an interview
2. Add an eye-catching graphic element to what would otherwise be a bland page of text.

Why does the header matter? First, if your contact information is not readily available, hiring managers may not make the effort to find it and you will lose an opportunity. Second, a visually pleasing document is more memorable and leaves a positive impression. 

The aim of this section: Create a favorable first impression and make clear the main artery to scheduling an interview.

Cover letter greeting

The greeting sets the tone for the entirety of your medical cover letter, therefore we recommend beginning with the standard “Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms. Surname.” You will note that our cover letter examples use this greeting. Remember to triple check that you have the spelling correct. Many head nurses and medical staff other than physicians also have advanced degrees, so make sure you get their titles correct. There’s no quicker way to lose points (or the interview) than to misspell someone’s name or get their gender wrong.

If you cannot get the name of a person, “Dear (hospital or company name) Hiring Team” is a fine alternative. We suggest staying away from more casual greetings such as “Dear Imaging Department” because it may come off as flippant.

The aim of the cover letter greeting: Show that you will make the extra effort to address each person as an individual.

Cover letter introduction

Your medical cover letter introduction sets the tone for your letter (and your career) by injecting your biggest career highlight with your personal style.

A healthy medical cover letter establishes both your knowledge of your field and your bedside manner within the first few sentences. You want the hiring manager to think right off, “Aha! This is why I should hire this candidate.”

To get started, ask yourself: “What message do I want to convey?” Perhaps you have a caring touch or are a great diagnostician. Decide what you want to highlight and then thread that message throughout your letter. 

The aim of the cover letter intro: Get the hiring manager interested and deliver a message that defines your career.

Check out the cover letter sample introduction below.

Cover letter middle part (body)

You’ve set the tone and intrigued the recruiter. Now, within the middle paragraphs of your cover letter, you are going to offer a medical history that points to your excellence. The body section gives you a bit of space to explain your philosophy of patient care. 

No matter what area of heath care you are in, your personality and efficiency may be a matter of life or death. Offer an example of your grace under pressure, a time when you caught what could have been a serious error or how you help family members in crisis. 

Make sure your examples highlight your knowledge of your specialty and address how you will enhance the medical team. Describe yourself and your work with strong adjectives and action words.

The aim of the middle part of your cover letter: Use anecdotes to show off your medical knowledge and professional demeanor.

Here is the body of our cover letter sample to help get you started.

How to close a medical cover letter (conclusion and sign-off)

Your entire medical cover letter is designed to get you that interview. As the conclusion of your text approaches, they are waiting for a big finish, so deliver it. How? Reiterate why you are the right person for the job, of course, but also offer a more personal note. 

Here are a few ideas:

• Why did you become a medical professional?
• Is there a patient whose story still resonates with you? Why?
• Why do you want to work at this particular medical facility?

Make it a story that you can expand upon when you talk to the hiring manager. Then, come right out and politely request an interview. Our cover letter sample finish with the classic “Sincerely.” You can also use “Regards,” but always stay professional.

The aim of the close of your cover letter: Offer a story you can expand upon and remind the recruiter why you’re a great candidate.

Writing psychology: how to convey your work ethic in your cover letter

Of course you are going to say you’re a hard-worker who always puts the patients first, who wouldn’t? So how do you prove it? The following tips will guide you.

• Use examples that fit the job. Target the role you want by offering stories that show you already excel in that position. Be certain that the stories show your work ethic without you coming out and stating “I work hard.”
• Get (a bit) emotional. You are dealing with people often in distress, so don’t be afraid to show your passion for your work.
• Remember to mention your administrative skill. Medical jobs are full of paperwork, regulations and privacy concerns, so be clear about your ability to handle those tasks as well.

How to avoid basic mistakes in a medical application letter 

1. Keep it short and sweet. Take a scalpel to wordy language and keep your stories short. You only have about 300 words so don’t waste a single one.
2. Spell check, grammar check, proofread! You are in a field that requires attention to detail, so make sure you pay attention to the details here. Don’t let a small error flatline your chances.
3. Write like yourself. By that we mean, keep your sentences sounding like something you would say. It’s fine to use medical terminology to express your expertise, but keep your wording natural.

Key takeaways for a medical cover letter

1. Show off your understanding of administrative tasks as well as your medical knowledge and bedside manner.
2. Show the hiring manager that you already know how to do the job you are applying for.
3. Strong action words and descriptors will help you sound confident and compassionate.
4. Pick examples that illuminate how you will add value to the company.