Do you know the difference between a curriculum vitae (CV) and a résumé and why it's important to have both up to date and readily available?

For some people, a resume, by definition, is a "summary"--a synopsis of your CV, let's say. If you've ever tried to copy and paste your CV into a job board field with a 500-word limit you get the idea.

For others, a résumé is the lengthy narrative and the CV is the summarized version. So if you're confused, obviously, you're not alone.

While there are no universal standards regarding exactly what to list in a résumé and what to include in a CV, the following is a guide to the basics:

A physician's curriculum vitae often includes a summary of one's educational and academic backgrounds, as well as teaching and research experience, grants, publications, presentations, awards, honors, affiliations and other details. Its length is only limited by the endeavors of the physician to whom it refers. It's the document of choice for a physician recruiter with Cedars Sinai Medical Center, which employs over 2,000 physicians and recruits up to 30 each year. "Because it is a research and teaching hospital," says the recruiter, who wishes to remain anonymous, "we don't want to see a two-page resume. We prefer to look at a full CV to see if a person has had any research grants, what kinds of studies they've worked on... something much more in-depth." You'll probably find the same preference among speakers' bureaus, organizations recruiting for higher-level positions, and journal editors.

Because hiring professionals seem to lack consensus when it comes to CVs and résumés, do as much as you can to discover your target's preference.

"We prefer CVs to résumés," confirms Pam Miller, the assistant to the editor - special projects of the New England Journal of Medicine in Boston. "They provide much more detail and if we are using the CV for any type of evaluation, it usually provides all the details necessary to determine the person's body of work."

"It's the gold standard for traditional clinical roles," says Ivo Drury, MD MBA, the president of Career Consulting for Physicians in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who also serves as an adjunct professor of neurology for the University of Michigan Medical School. "But résumés are of increasing importance given that more physicians consider pursuing non-clinical careers."

While a CV is likely to be a lengthy and comprehensive chronology of a physician's career, he says a résumé should be weighted to more recent professional activities and to one's accomplishments in the role most relevant to the position they seek. "The résumé, not the CV, gives a dynamic picture of a physician's activities in a particular role."

As for content, the resume should always include a brief biographical summary, work history, and educational background. Let the position requirements dictate the rest. "We don't need to see all the articles you've written," adds Dennis Settles, primary care manager in St. Louis, Missouri. "We're looking for certifications, schooling and work history. That's it."

Karen Zeller, the president of the National Association of Physician Recruiters, has a more traditional take. "I believe there is a difference [between a résumé and a CV]. I see a résumé as being more of a narrative of objectives and experience. And in ten years, I don't think I've seen more than two or three résumés. They tend to be used more for medical director or administrative positions. I think the standard in the industry is a CV with concise statements about educational background, work history, publications, and that sort of thing. If it's a graduating resident, I tend to receive two-page CVs. If it's a practicing physician, who has spent some time in an academic setting, that physician will typically have two Cvs--one that is abbreviated and shows his/her primary focus... maybe six pages. And then his/her full CV that may be 25 pages."

When asked about tailoring the CV to one's career objective, Zeller says she prefers a cover letter "that lists their objective, outlines their clinical strengths, and highlights whatever they think makes them a good fit for a particular opportunity."

Because hiring professionals seem to lack consensus when it comes to CVs and résumés, do as much as you can to discover your target's preference. When the U.S. Government hires, for instance, it provides a very specific job announcement, which details the required submission materials. Send more and it will be disregarded. Send less and you will probably be looked over. "Here [at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Birmingham, Alabama], the terms résumé and CV are used interchangeably. We really don't make an issue of it," says Carolyn Watts, resource specialist. Semantics aside, she adds that the most common problem for candidates applying to the VA is failing to provide enough information, which suggests a physician with a meticulous CV will fare better than one who submits a terse resume.

The final caveat? No physician has ever been hired based solely on their CV or resume. In the ultra-competitive world of hiring, the aforementioned documents are primarily used for screening candidates out. So take advice from recruiters and hiring professionals with a grain of salt, don't let your resume do all the talking and follow up on every application in order to identify necessary changes in content, style and format.

     By Tom R. Arterburn, an award-winning job-search journalist and professional résumé writer, is 4NursingJobs.com's résumé and CV wizard.

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