Essential CV Building Tips for DO Graduates Targeting ENT Residency

Understanding the Role of Your CV in the Otolaryngology Match

For a DO graduate targeting Otolaryngology (ENT), your CV is more than a list of activities—it’s a strategic document that tells program directors why you fit their specialty, their program, and their culture. ENT is a small, competitive field; programs often receive far more applications than they can review in depth. Your CV becomes a quick but powerful filter.

In the osteopathic residency match era—and especially in the single accreditation system—DO graduates must be particularly intentional in how they present their training, experiences, and osteopathic identity. A well-constructed CV can help mitigate concerns about lesser-known schools, fewer home ENT resources, or limited research, and highlight the strengths that DO graduates often bring: hands-on clinical experience, holistic care, and strong patient rapport.

Your CV for ENT residency should:

• Quickly demonstrate that you understand what ENT is and have direct exposure to it
• Highlight competitiveness signals (research, board scores context, leadership, strong letters—though letters aren’t on the CV, the activities leading to them are)
• Show a cohesive narrative consistent with your personal statement and ERAS application
• Make it easy for busy faculty to scan and find what they care about in under 60 seconds

This article focuses on how to build a CV for residency as a DO graduate targeting otolaryngology: what to include, how to structure it, common pitfalls, and specific ENT-focused and DO-specific strategies.

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Core Structure: What Every ENT-Focused DO Residency CV Must Include

While ERAS has standardized sections, you will often also need a standalone CV—for away rotations, mentors, letter writers, and local hospital applications. The content should be similar, but the structure and formatting matter.

Recommended CV Sections

A typical, effective structure for an ENT-bound DO graduate:

1. Contact Information & Professional Heading
2. Education
3. Standardized Exam Scores (optional as a section, depending on use case)
4. Clinical Experience & Rotations (with ENT emphasis)
5. Research Experience & Publications
6. Presentations, Posters & Abstracts
7. Leadership & Teaching Experience
8. Honors, Awards & Scholarships
9. Professional Memberships & Service
10. Skills & Certifications (procedural, language, technical)
11. Extracurricular & Volunteer Activities

Order can vary slightly, but for a competitive surgical specialty like ENT, most program directors want to see your ENT exposure and research quickly. After education and contact info, you can bring Clinical Experience up, followed by Research.

Contact Information & Professional Heading

At the top:

• Full name (match exactly what is used in ERAS)
• Professional email (your school email or a simple firstname.lastname address)
• Cell phone number with reliable voicemail
• City, state (no need for full home address)
• Optional: LinkedIn or professional website if it is well-developed and aligned

Avoid nicknames, novelty email addresses, or multiple phone numbers. You want to be easily reachable and clearly professional.

Example:

Jordan M. Taylor, DO
Email: jordan.taylor@medmail.edu | Phone: (555) 555-1234
Philadelphia, PA | AOA Member

No objective statement is needed; your target specialty (Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery) should already be clear from your experiences and cover letter/personal statement when applicable.

Education Section for DO Graduates

For DO graduates, this section is also where you highlight your osteopathic training.

List in reverse chronological order:

• Medical school: [Name of COM], degree (DO), city, state, expected or actual graduation date
• Undergraduate institution, degree, major/minor, graduation year
• Optional: post-bacc or graduate degrees

You may include:

• Class rank or percentile (if favorable and officially reported)
• Cumulative GPA (only if requested or clearly helpful)
• Thesis title if you completed a research-based degree

Example Entry:

Lakeview College of Osteopathic Medicine, DO
Erie, PA | Expected Graduation: May 2025

• OMM Teaching Fellow (2022–2023)
• ENT Student Interest Group Co-President

University of Michigan, BS in Biochemistry
Ann Arbor, MI | May 2020

• Graduated with High Distinction

This subtly signals your osteopathic background and early ENT involvement without overwhelming the reader.

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Showcasing ENT Exposure: Clinical, Research, and Procedural Experiences

For an otolaryngology match, ENT-specific evidence on your CV is critical. Many programs will not look seriously at an applicant—especially a DO graduate—if there is no clear ENT exposure.

Clinical Experience & Rotations

This is where your ENT rotations, sub-internships (Sub-Is), and away rotations should be highly visible.

Include:

• Name of institution
• Department (Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery)
• Dates and approximate duration (e.g., 4 weeks, July 2024)
• Your role: “Acting intern,” “Sub-intern,” “Senior medical student,” “Core rotation”
• Brief bullets with responsibilities and any notable achievements

Example ENT Rotation Entry:

Sub-Internship – Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery
University Medical Center, Department of Otolaryngology, July 2024 (4 weeks)

• Participated in outpatient clinics (general ENT, otology, head and neck oncology) seeing 8–12 patients per half-day and presenting assessment and plans to attendings.
• Assisted in the OR with tonsillectomies, thyroidectomies, tympanoplasties; performed basic tasks such as suturing, draping, and endoscope setup under supervision.
• Completed 2 on-call shifts per week, evaluated new consults for epistaxis, airway concerns, and neck masses, and presented to chief residents.

If you completed multiple ENT rotations, list each separately, especially if at different institutions (important for away rotations).

Also include related surgical experiences that matter to ENT programs:

• General surgery Sub-I with strong operative exposure
• ICU rotations showing comfort with critically ill patients and airways
• Anesthesia or emergency medicine rotations with airway management experiences

For a DO graduate, also include OMM teaching/clinical work only if you can tie it to procedural skill, anatomy, or patient-centered care that complements surgery.

Research Experience & Publications (ENT-Focused When Possible)

In ENT, research—even small projects—sends a strong signal of commitment and academic potential. Programs know DO students often have fewer built-in research pipelines, so they will look for evidence that you created or sought out opportunities.

Organize as:

• Research Experience (projects, roles)
• Publications (peer-reviewed, accepted, in press)
• Abstracts, Posters & Presentations

For each research experience include:

• Project title or topic
• Institution/mentor name (especially if ENT faculty)
• Your role (student researcher, data analyst, first author, etc.)
• Dates and status (ongoing, completed)
• 2–4 bullets about methods, your responsibilities, and outcomes

Example ENT Research Entry:

Research Assistant – Outcomes of Endoscopic Sinus Surgery in Chronic Rhinosinusitis
Department of Otolaryngology, City Hospital, May 2023 – Present
Mentor: Sarah Lin, MD, FACS

• Retrospective chart review of 280 adult patients undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery, focusing on postoperative quality-of-life scores (SNOT-22).
• Extracted and curated data, built REDCap database, and performed basic statistical analysis (t-tests, chi-square) under supervision.
• Drafted abstract accepted for poster presentation at the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting 2024.

In publications, use a proper citation format and clearly mark your authorship order. For ENT programs, being first or second author on anything ENT-related carries weight, even if it’s a case report.

Example Publication Entry:

Taylor JM, Lin S, Nguyen T. “Endoscopic Sinus Surgery Outcomes in Patients with Coexisting Asthma.” Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. In press, 2024.

If you don’t yet have ENT publications, list other research (orthopedic, EM, internal medicine, quality improvement) but prioritize ENT at the top if you have it.

Presentations, Posters & Abstracts

ENT is a relatively small world; programs often know or recognize major ENT meetings (AAO-HNSF, COSM, subspecialty meetings). Make those visible.

Include:

• Title of your work
• Your name in authorship order
• Type (oral presentation, poster, podium)
• Conference name and location (or virtual)
• Date (month/year)

Example:

Taylor JM, Lin S. “Quality-of-Life Improvements After Endoscopic Sinus Surgery in Patients with Asthma.” Poster presentation at AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN, September 2024.

Even institutional research days and local surgery symposia count as productivity for a DO graduate; list them, but clearly label them as institutional.

Procedural, Technical, and ENT-Relevant Skills

ENT is procedural and technology-heavy. Include a Skills & Certifications subsection that, for ENT, might feature:

• Basic airway management: bag-mask ventilation, oral/nasal airway insertion
• Nasal packing for epistaxis (if you actually performed this)
• Flexible nasolaryngoscopy exposure (observed vs performed)
• Microscope familiarity (ear exams, OR exposure)
• Laceration repair, basic suturing, incision & drainage
• Software and data skills: REDCap, SPSS, R, basic statistics

Be honest—avoid overinflating skills. For residency CV tips, it’s better to label skills as “experience with” or “exposure to” rather than implying full competency.

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Positioning Yourself as a DO Graduate in a Competitive ENT Landscape

As a DO graduate, you bring strengths that can appeal strongly to ENT programs—if your CV reflects them clearly and confidently.

Addressing Perceptions: DO Graduate Residency Strategy

Historically, some ENT programs favored MD graduates, especially from large research-focused institutions. With the single accreditation system, many more programs are open to DO applicants, but there may still be concern about:

• Limited home ENT department or research infrastructure
• Less name recognition of your DO school
• Perceived differences in board exam patterns

Your CV can proactively counter these by emphasizing:

1. Initiative and Self-Direction

   • Starting an ENT interest group if one didn’t exist
   • Securing outside ENT mentors
   • Traveling for away rotations or research opportunities
   • Leading QI or research projects from scratch

2. Osteopathic Identity as a Value-Add

   • OMM teaching or leadership roles (not just OMM club member, but something substantial)
   • Holistic, patient-centered initiatives (e.g., longitudinal clinics, community ENT screenings, preventive health education)
   • Integrative approaches in pain management or perioperative care

3. Performance in Shared Benchmarks

   • Strong performance on COMLEX/USMLE (if taken)
   • Honors in surgery/ENT rotations
   • Leadership and teaching that align with being a future surgical team leader

You do not need a separate “Osteopathic Training” section, but you can weave your DO background into Education, Leadership, and Clinical Experience sections.

Example Leadership Entry for a DO Student:

OMM Teaching Fellow
Lakeview College of Osteopathic Medicine, 2022–2023

• Selected as 1 of 8 fellows to co-teach first- and second-year OMM labs, emphasizing musculoskeletal anatomy and hands-on technique.
• Developed OSCE cases integrating head and neck anatomy and somatic dysfunction, reinforcing physical exam skills relevant to ENT.

This subtly reinforces your comfort with anatomy, physical exam, and teaching—skills extremely relevant to surgical training.

Highlighting ENT Commitment on Your Residency CV

Program directors want to see consistency: ENT interest that builds over time, across activities. On your CV, look for ways your past experiences relate to ENT, even if they weren’t labeled “otolaryngology” at the time:

• Speech therapy shadowing → voice and laryngology interest
• Oncology rotation/community work → head and neck oncology exposure
• Audiology clinic or hearing screening volunteering → otology-related
• Sleep medicine exposure → sleep apnea and airway interest

Don’t artificially stretch connections, but a brief bullet can highlight relevance:

• Volunteered at community health fair offering free hearing screenings alongside audiology staff; counseled ~40 attendees on follow-up options.

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Formatting, Style, and Common Mistakes in an ENT Residency CV

The content gets you noticed; the formatting determines if anyone reads it. For a surgical specialty like ENT, programs subconsciously expect precision and clarity.

General Formatting Guidelines

• Length: 2–4 pages is typical for a DO graduate applying in ENT. Overly short may look underdeveloped; 8+ pages is excessive.
• Font: Professional and readable (e.g., 11–12 pt Times New Roman, Calibri, Garamond).
• Margins: 0.5"–1" on all sides.
• Consistency: Same date format, bullet style, and heading style throughout.
• File name: “Lastname_Firstname_CV_2025.pdf” – simple and professional.

Use bold for headings and positions; italics for institutions or journals. Avoid colors, graphics, or unusual fonts—this is not a design portfolio.

Tailoring vs. Truthfulness

You can adjust emphasis on your CV for different audiences (e.g., research-heavy program vs. community program), but never alter dates, titles, or roles.

Examples of appropriate tailoring:

• For a highly academic ENT program: put Research before Leadership; expand details of your ENT projects.
• For a community or smaller program: highlight clinical volume, patient interaction, and community engagement.

Your medical student CV should always match your ERAS experiences in content and dates. Any discrepancies are red flags.

Common Mistakes in ENT Residency CVs

Avoid these pitfalls:

1. Vague ENT interest

   • Saying “Interested in ENT” in a summary but presenting no ENT rotations, no shadowing, and no ENT-related activity.
   • Fix: Build at least 1–2 solid ENT experiences and make them prominent.

2. Overcrowded bullet points

   • Long, paragraph-style bullets are hard to scan.
   • Fix: Use 2–4 concise bullets per role; prioritize impact and specificity.

3. Inflated responsibilities

   • Claiming procedural independence (e.g., “performed independent tracheostomies”) or exaggerating your role in research.
   • Fix: Use “assisted with,” “participated in,” “contributed to data collection/analysis.”

4. Mixing unpublished with published without clarity

   • Listing “under review” or “in preparation” items without labeling them.
   • Fix: Separate sections or clearly mark status (e.g., “Manuscript in preparation”).

5. Inconsistent terminology

   • Switching between “ENT” and “Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery” randomly.
   • Fix: Use “Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (ENT)” on first use; “Otolaryngology” or “ENT” thereafter, consistently.

6. Typos and formatting errors

   • For a surgical field, attention to detail matters.
   • Fix: Have at least two people (ideally an ENT resident and a faculty mentor) review your CV.

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Step-by-Step Action Plan: How to Build Your CV for Residency in ENT

If you’re still in your clinical years or early in your DO training, you can intentionally build the CV you’ll use for the otolaryngology match. Here’s a practical roadmap.

Step 1: Create a Living Document Early (OMS-II or OMS-III)

• Start a Word/Google Doc with the headings described above.
• Add experiences as they occur—don’t rely on memory a year later.
• Include exact dates, mentor names, responsibilities, and outcomes from the beginning.

This becomes your master medical student CV and will make ERAS entry much faster.

Step 2: Secure ENT Exposure

If your school doesn’t have a home ENT program:

• Ask your dean’s office for affiliated ENT attendings or clinics.
• Join ENT or surgical interest groups at nearby MD schools, if allowed.
• Seek early shadowing in general ENT and subspecialty clinics (otology, rhinology, head and neck oncology, pediatrics).

Add each experience clearly:

ENT Shadowing – Dr. Maya Patel, Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
Community ENT Associates, Jan–March 2023 (approximately 30 hours)

• Observed outpatient evaluation and procedures including flexible laryngoscopy, cerumen removal, and nasal endoscopy.
• Discussed case presentations and specialty lifestyle with attending physician.

Step 3: Build at Least One Solid Research or Scholarly Product

For many DO graduates, the biggest gap in an osteopathic residency match for ENT is research. Solutions:

• Approach ENT faculty (even at distant institutions) via email with a concise introduction + CV and ask about retrospective chart reviews, case reports, or systematic reviews.
• If no ENT is available, choose a surgical or airway-related project (surgery, anesthesia, ICU, pulmonology, sleep medicine, oncology) and highlight its ENT relevance where appropriate.
• Aim to produce at least:
  • 1–2 posters or oral presentations, plus
  • 1 publication (even a case report) by the time you apply.

Track all steps in your CV under Research sections as the project evolves.

Step 4: Pursue Leadership and Teaching That Align with Surgery/ENT

Programs look for future chiefs and academic surgeons. Ideal leadership experiences:

• ENT student interest group founder or officer
• Surgery interest group leadership
• OMM teaching fellow (emphasizing anatomy and exam skills)
• Tutoring for anatomy, physiology, or clinical skills

On your CV, leadership entries should show initiative and outcomes, not just titles:

Co-President – ENT Student Interest Group
Lakeview College of Osteopathic Medicine, 2023–2024

• Organized 4 lecture events with local ENT surgeons, averaging 60+ attendees.
• Coordinated 15 shadowing placements for preclinical students with community ENT physicians.
• Led skills workshop on head and neck exam in collaboration with the OMM department.

Step 5: Refine and Align Before You Apply

In the months before ERAS opens:

1. Audit for consistency: Dates, titles, and descriptions should exactly match what you’ll enter in ERAS.
2. Seek specialty-specific feedback: Ask an ENT resident or faculty to review your CV, particularly for:
   • Strength of ENT signal
   • Clarity of research roles
   • Appropriateness of technical skills claims
3. Create a brief one-page “highlights” or “updated CV” version to send to programs or mentors who request a quick summary, while keeping a full CV on hand.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Do I need a separate CV if I’m already filling out ERAS?

Yes. ERAS is the official application, but you will likely need a traditional CV for:

• Requesting letters of recommendation
• Research or clinical ENT opportunities
• Away/sub-internship applications
• Networking with ENT faculty at conferences

Your CV and ERAS should mirror each other in content (titles, dates, roles), but the CV gives you more control over layout and emphasis.

2. How important is research on a CV for an otolaryngology match as a DO graduate?

Research is very important for ENT, especially in academic programs. For a DO graduate, it helps demonstrate competitiveness and academic potential. You do not need dozens of publications, but you should aim for at least:

• One or more ENT-related projects or presentations
• Evidence of scholarly activity (posters, QI projects, or case reports)

Programs understand that DO students may have fewer built-in research opportunities; showing initiative and follow-through on even smaller projects can carry substantial weight.

3. Should I include non-medical jobs or activities on my residency CV?

Yes—if they reflect qualities important in surgery and ENT, such as teamwork, leadership, perseverance, or communication. Examples:

• Military service
• College athletics (especially team sports)
• Long-term employment (e.g., EMT, scribe, phlebotomist)

Place them in an Extracurricular & Employment section and keep descriptions concise. Avoid overloading your CV with short-term or unrelated roles that add little value.

4. Is it better to call the specialty “ENT” or “Otolaryngology” on my CV?

Use “Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (ENT)” on first mention, then consistently use “Otolaryngology” or “ENT” thereafter. Programs will understand both terms; consistency and professionalism are more important than the specific choice. Many academic departments prefer the full term “Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery,” so including it signals familiarity with the field.

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By building your CV intentionally—highlighting ENT exposure, scholarly productivity, leadership, and your strengths as a DO graduate—you position yourself competitively for the otolaryngology match. Start early, keep a living document, and seek feedback from ENT mentors so that when programs review your application, your CV tells a clear, compelling story: you understand ENT, you’ve done the work to prepare, and you’re ready for residency.