Essential CV Building Guide for Non-US Citizen IMGs in Medicine-Psychiatry

Understanding the CV Needs of a Non-US Citizen IMG in Medicine-Psychiatry

As a non-US citizen IMG applying to a med psych residency (medicine psychiatry combined program), your CV does much more than list dates and degrees. It must:

• Prove you can thrive in two specialties simultaneously
• Compensate for geographic and systems distance (training outside the US)
• Tell a coherent story that integrates medicine and psychiatry
• Reassure programs about your visa, communication skills, and professionalism

Residency CV tips online often default to US medical graduates. As a foreign national medical graduate, you need a more strategic, adapted approach. This guide explains how to build a CV for residency in Medicine-Psychiatry from the ground up—what to include, what to cut, and how to present your experiences so program directors immediately see your value.

We’ll walk through:

• Essential CV structure tailored to med-psych combined programs
• How to highlight medicine + psychiatry alignment throughout
• Ways to convert non-US experiences into US-relevant impact
• Concrete examples and phrasing you can adapt
• A mini action plan to upgrade your CV over the next 6–12 months

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Core Structure: How a Strong Medicine-Psychiatry CV is Organized

Your residency CV (whether as a standalone PDF or the content you plug into ERAS) should follow a clear, predictable structure. For a non-US citizen IMG, this structure reassures reviewers that you understand US expectations.

Recommended order:

1. Contact & personal information
2. Education
3. US exams and certifications
4. Clinical experience (US and international)
5. Research & scholarly activity
6. Teaching & leadership
7. Psychiatry- and medicine-related volunteer & advocacy
8. Honors & awards
9. Skills (clinical, languages, technical)
10. Professional affiliations & memberships

1. Contact & Personal Information

Keep this simple, professional, and US-friendly:

• Full name (consistent with ERAS and official documents)
• Current address (US address if you have one, plus permanent address if different)
• Email (professional, e.g., firstname.lastname@…), phone number with country code
• Optional: LinkedIn profile (only if it is updated and aligned with your CV)

Do NOT include: photo, age, marital status, religion, or national ID numbers. These are common in many countries but inappropriate in US residency applications.

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2. Education: Show a Clear, Credible Academic Path

For a foreign national medical graduate, your education section must help US reviewers quickly place your training in context.

Include:

• Medical school name, city, country
• Dates (month/year – month/year)
• Degree (e.g., MBBS, MD, DO equivalent)
• Class rank or percentile (if favorable and verifiable)
• Thesis title (if research-related and relevant)

Example entry:

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)
University of Lagos College of Medicine, Lagos, Nigeria
09/2014 – 06/2020
Graduated with Distinction in Internal Medicine; Top 10% of class

If you completed:

• An internship/house job → List under Clinical Experience, not strictly under Education.
• A postgraduate diploma or psychiatry/medicine residency in your home country → Clarify this clearly; US programs must understand your exact training level.

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3. US-Style Exam and Certification Section

For non-US citizen IMGs, a clear exam section is essential. Use a separate heading such as:

USMLE & Certifications

Include:

• USMLE Step 1, Step 2 CK, Step 3: scores and date taken (if allowed by ERAS policies at the time you apply; if not, just “Passed” and date)
• ECFMG certification status and date
• Any language proficiency tests (e.g., IELTS, TOEFL) only if relevant or requested
• BLS/ACLS certification (current status, expiration date)

Example:

USMLE Step 2 CK – 252, Passed 06/2024
USMLE Step 1 – Pass, 02/2023
ECFMG Certification – Granted 08/2024
ACLS Provider, American Heart Association – Expires 09/2026

For med psych residency directors, seeing completed Steps and ECFMG status indicates you can handle an intense combined program.

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Making Clinical Experience Work for a Medicine-Psychiatry Narrative

Med-psych residency directors need to see both:

1. Breadth and competence in general medicine
2. Genuine, sustained interest in psychiatry and behavioral health

Your job is to design the clinical experience section so that your medicine and psychiatry engagements are clearly visible and well balanced—even if your training environment at home separated them sharply.

4. Clinical Experience: Prioritize Relevance and Setting

Break this section into two logical parts:

• US Clinical Experience (USCE)
• International Clinical Experience

Within each, group experiences by type:

• Clerkships / core rotations
• Sub-internships / acting internships
• Externships
• Observerships / shadowing (clearly labeled)

How to List Clinical Experiences

For each experience:

• Title (e.g., “Clinical Extern – Internal Medicine,” “Observer – Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry”)
• Institution, city, state/country
• Dates (month/year – month/year)
• 2–4 bullet points of what you did and what you achieved

Example (for a med-psych aligned role):

Clinical Extern – Internal Medicine with Behavioral Focus
Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
04/2024 – 06/2024

• Managed 8–10 inpatients daily under supervision, including those with comorbid depression, substance use disorders, and cognitive impairment.
• Participated in multidisciplinary rounds with psychiatry consult team, contributing to treatment planning for patients with delirium and suicidality.
• Developed and presented a brief teaching session on “Managing Agitation in Medically Ill Patients” for internal medicine residents and medical students.

This type of phrasing shows you understand the interface between medicine and psychiatry, not just generic inpatient medicine.

Highlight Psych-Related Elements in Medicine Rotations

Even in general medicine postings, deliberately highlight psychiatric and psychosocial aspects:

• Complex delirium management
• Depression/anxiety in chronic disease (e.g., heart failure, diabetes)
• Somatic symptom disorders
• Substance use issues in medical inpatients
• Consultation-liaison psychiatry encounters

Weak bullet:

• Took histories and examined patients on the internal medicine ward.

Stronger med-psych bullet:

• Took detailed medical and psychiatric histories for patients with heart failure, COPD, and comorbid depression, facilitating integrated management plans with psychiatric consultation.

5. Psychiatry-Focused Experience: Go Beyond “I Did a Psych Rotation”

Many non-US citizen IMGs have minimal formal psychiatry exposure beyond the core rotation. To stand out for a medicine psychiatry combined program:

• List your psychiatry rotation(s) separately under Clinical Experience.
• Emphasize your active behaviors: psychotherapy exposure, risk assessments, family meetings, addiction treatment.

Example:

Core Psychiatry Rotation – Inpatient & Outpatient
Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan
05/2019 – 07/2019

• Conducted initial psychiatric assessments for 3–4 new patients per week under supervision, including those with psychosis, mood disorders, and substance use disorders.
• Observed and later co-facilitated psychoeducation sessions for patients with comorbid diabetes and depression.
• Collaborated with internal medicine teams to coordinate psychiatric follow-up for medically stable patients with suicide attempts.

If you have any of the following, definitely include them:

• Time on consult-liaison psychiatry
• Rotations in addiction medicine
• Rotations in psychosomatic medicine
• ER/ED experience with psychiatric presentations
• Tele-psychiatry, mental health hotline work

Label them clearly. Medicine-psychiatry programs look specifically for this interface.

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Research and Scholarly Work: Building Credibility as a Future Med-Psych Academic

You do not need dozens of publications, but you do need to show you can think critically and engage with evidence—especially for a dual-discipline field like Medicine-Psychiatry.

6. Structuring the Research Section

Group into:

• Peer-reviewed publications (if any)
• Abstracts and posters
• Oral presentations
• Quality improvement (QI) projects
• Ongoing projects

Use consistent citation format (e.g., AMA-style). If your role was minor, be honest but clear.

Example of a highly relevant project for med-psych:

Quality Improvement Project – Screening for Depression in Diabetes Clinic
University Teaching Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya
01/2023 – 08/2023

• Designed and implemented a PHQ-9 screening protocol for patients with type 2 diabetes in an internal medicine outpatient clinic.
• Trained 6 clinic nurses and 4 medical officers on using PHQ-9 and referral pathways to psychiatry.
• Increased depression screening rates from 10% to 78% over 4 months; project presented at hospital QI meeting.

Such projects strongly signal your fit for a medicine psychiatry combined environment, even if there’s no formal publication.

7. How a Non-US Citizen IMG Can “US-Translate” Research

Because many IMGs complete research outside the US, you must make relevance clear:

• Explicitly state tools used (e.g., PHQ-9, GAD-7, DSM-5 criteria).
• Mention collaboration with multiple departments (medicine + psychiatry, if true).
• Show impact in numbers: percentages, time saved, patient outcomes improved.

Before (weak):
“Researched depression in diabetes patients.”

After (strong, US-relevant):
“Conducted a cross-sectional study investigating the prevalence of major depressive disorder among 200 patients with type 2 diabetes in an internal medicine clinic, using PHQ-9 and DSM-5 criteria; identified 31% with moderate to severe depressive symptoms and presented findings at departmental grand rounds.”

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Teaching, Leadership, and Advocacy: Showing You’re More Than Just Clinically Competent

Medicine-Psychiatry residency programs often attract residents interested in systems-level change, complex patient advocacy, and leadership in integrated care. Your CV should show you’re that kind of applicant.

8. Teaching Experience: Emphasize Bidirectional Learning

Include:

• Small group teaching for medical students
• Bedside teaching during house job/internship
• Lectures or workshops you designed
• Peer tutoring and mentoring roles

Example (with med-psych angle):

Small Group Facilitator – Psychosomatic Medicine Case Discussions
Department of Psychiatry, University of Belgrade, Serbia
10/2022 – 02/2023

• Facilitated weekly case-based sessions for 10 third-year medical students on topics such as somatization, delirium, and depression in chronic illness.
• Developed scenarios linking internal medicine conditions (e.g., myocardial infarction, stroke) with acute psychiatric presentations and communication challenges.

Teaching experiences highlight communication skills and professionalism—key concerns for programs evaluating foreign national medical graduates.

9. Leadership Roles: Clarify Scope and Outcomes

Avoid vague titles without impact. If you list “class representative” or “committee member,” add what you actually did:

• Organized events, schedules, or teaching sessions
• Advocated for student wellness or mental health support
• Initiated projects related to patient care or education

Example:

Founder & Coordinator – Student Mental Health Initiative
XYZ Medical College, Delhi, India
01/2018 – 12/2019

• Established a peer-support and referral program for medical students experiencing academic stress, burnout, and depression.
• Collaborated with psychiatry faculty to create confidential counseling pathways and crisis protocols.
• Led a team of 12 volunteers; program reached over 200 students and was recognized with the Dean’s Award for Student Welfare.

This aligns directly with Psychiatry and shows initiative—very attractive for med psych residency.

10. Volunteer and Community Work: Show Long-Term Commitment

Programs distinguish between:

• One-day health camps (good, but common)
• Longitudinal volunteer work (much stronger, especially in mental health, addiction, or underserved populations)

If you have long-term involvement in community mental health, addiction outreach, primary care for vulnerable groups, or integrated care clinics, feature these prominently.

Examples of high-yield experiences:

• Volunteering at a substance use rehabilitation center
• Running mental health awareness workshops in community settings
• Working with refugee or migrant populations with trauma histories
• Participating in integrated primary care clinics with behavioral health services

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Practical Residency CV Tips for Non-US Citizen IMGs Targeting Med-Psych

Now that we’ve covered structure and content, here’s how to refine how to build CV for residency into a document that stands out for combined programs.

11. Create a Coherent Dual-Specialty Story

Every section should subtly reinforce: “I am committed to and prepared for a dual career in internal medicine and psychiatry.”

Ways to do this:

• In clinical experiences, always highlight medical + psychological aspects where present.
• In research, emphasize topics at the medicine-psychiatry interface (chronic disease + mental health, delirium, psychosomatics, addiction in medical settings).
• In teaching and leadership, emphasize initiatives around wellness, integrated care, or complex patients.

Ask yourself:
“If someone read only this bullet point, would they see a med-psych connection or at least potential?”

If not, tweak the wording to bring out that angle—without exaggeration.

12. Adapt Content for US Audience and Expectations

As a non-US citizen IMG, you must “translate” your context:

• Replace local abbreviations with full terms understandable in the US.
• Clarify equivalencies: “internship (equivalent to PGY-1 in [country]).”
• Use universally recognized tools (PHQ-9, DSM-5, ICD-10 codes, etc.) when describing work.
• Convert grading systems and ranks into approximate percentiles if permitted.

Avoid overly long sections on pre-medical achievements from high school; US committees focus mainly on medical school and beyond.

13. Optimize for Clarity, Not Length

A strong residency CV is:

• 2–4 pages (for most IMGs with several experiences; longer is acceptable if truly substantial content)
• Organized with clear headings, consistent bullet styles, and professional fonts
• Free of spelling and grammar errors

Programs scan quickly. Make it easy by:

• Using bold for roles and institutions
• Maintaining reverse-chronological order in each section
• Keeping bullets short but specific (1–2 lines each)

14. Address Common IMG-Specific Concerns Through Your CV

Many foreign national medical graduates worry about:

• Gaps in training
• Switching from another specialty to Medicine-Psychiatry
• Limited formal psychiatry exposure

You can mitigate these through CV content:

• Gaps: Fill them with relevant activities (online courses, research, mental health volunteer work) and list them transparently.
• Specialty switch: If you trained in internal medicine or psychiatry alone previously, show how you consistently engaged with the other discipline (e.g., consultation work, integrated clinics, cross-specialty QI).
• Limited psychiatry exposure: Expand with community mental health volunteer work, online CME in psychiatry, or involvement in mental health advocacy organizations.

15. Short-Term Action Plan to Improve Your CV (6–12 Months Before Applying)

If you are 6–12 months away from applying and want to strengthen your residency CV:

1. Secure at least one US Clinical Experience that involves both medicine and psychiatric comorbidity (e.g., internal medicine with strong psych consult presence, addiction medicine, geriatrics with delirium focus).
2. Join or start a small QI or research project in any of the following:
   • Depression/anxiety screening in chronic disease clinics
   • Delirium prevention or management in hospital settings
   • Substance use assessment in internal medicine wards
3. Engage in mental health–related volunteer work, especially with underserved communities.
4. Take reputable online courses (e.g., Coursera, edX, university CME) focused on topics like integrated care, behavioral medicine, or psychopharmacology, and list the most relevant ones under a short “Additional Education / CME” section.
5. Practice professional English writing by asking a US-trained mentor or friend to review your CV for clarity, tone, and grammar.

Each of these steps creates new entries that are powerfully aligned with a med psych residency application.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. How is a Medicine-Psychiatry CV different from a general internal medicine or psychiatry CV?

A med-psych residency CV must simultaneously demonstrate:

• Solid foundation in general internal medicine
• Genuine, sustained interest and exposure to psychiatry
• Specific engagement with patients who have both medical and psychiatric issues

Where a pure medicine CV might emphasize ICU rotations and cardiology, and a pure psychiatry CV might highlight psychotherapy or inpatient psych, a Medicine-Psychiatry CV should consistently highlight interface experiences: delirium, chronic disease with depression, substance use in medical wards, psychosomatic disorders, consult-liaison work, and integrated care clinics.

2. As a non-US citizen IMG, is lack of US research a big disadvantage for med-psych programs?

Not necessarily. While US-based research can help, programs understand the structural barriers for foreign national medical graduates. More important than where the research happened is what it shows about you:

• Intellectual curiosity
• Ability to work in teams
• Understanding of evidence-based practice
• Interest in topics relevant to medicine and psychiatry

If you lack formal publications, focus on strong QI projects, clinical audits, and presentations and present them clearly and impactfully on your CV.

3. Should I include non-medical work experience on my residency CV?

Include non-medical work only if it clearly supports your candidacy, such as:

• Work involving teaching, counseling, or crisis support
• Leadership or organizational roles
• Positions demonstrating resilience, communication, or cross-cultural skills

For example, working as a peer counselor, crisis hotline volunteer, or community organizer in mental health campaigns can significantly strengthen a medicine psychiatry combined application. Generic part-time jobs (e.g., unrelated retail work) are usually unnecessary unless they demonstrate overcoming major adversity.

4. How can I prevent my CV from looking “too psychiatry heavy” or “too medicine heavy” for a med-psych program?

Balance each major section:

• For every psychiatry experience, see if you can show a medical dimension (e.g., psych in medically ill, HIV, diabetes, chronic pain).
• For every medicine experience, highlight psychiatric or behavioral components where they exist (delirium, depression, adherence, substance use).
• Maintain rough proportionality: if 80% of your bullets are psych-only, seek opportunities to expand internal medicine roles and vice versa.

Review your completed CV and ask: “If someone skims this for 60 seconds, will they clearly see that I think and work at the intersection of medicine and psychiatry?” Adjust your wording and ordering until the answer is yes.

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By deliberately structuring and framing your experiences, you can create a compelling, focused medical student CV that shows you are ready for the unique challenges of a med psych residency. As a non-US citizen IMG, your path may be more complex—but with a strategically crafted CV, your international background can become a strength rather than a barrier.