C.V. TOOL BOX

Q: How can I easily get my CV in HMS format?

A: F.I.R.S.T. (Faculty Information Retrieval and Search Tool)
eCommons is a completely redesigned intranet for the Harvard Medical community and is based on a very important principle - content management by users. All HMS appointed faculty have access to eCommons and will now have a tool to help them with their CV. It is called FIRST (Faculty Information Retrieval and Search Tool) and users can input CV information in a variety of user friendly ways.

Click here for instructions on how to access F.I.R.S.T.

For additional information, or to request a training session for you and your colleagues, call 617.432.0042.

For general instructions on what the format is, click below to see the correct section in the Purple Book.
- Part I: General Information
- Part II: Research, Teaching and Clinical Contributions
- Part III: Bibliography

Q: How do you best write the NARRATIVE for an HMS formatted CV?

A: Writing a narrative is as easy as following a simple recipe. The first paragraph should be like your personal abstract. Tell who you are, what your field of interest is and with what clinical practice you are involved (if any), what kind of basic research or clinical research you conduct (if any), and what kind of teaching you do. This should be a brief one paragraph summary of your current professional activities with the activities in which most of your academic effort is spent, listed first.

The subsequent paragraphs are expansions of the bullet points above. Again, remember to start with the aspect of the three pronged mission, i.e. clinical care, research and teaching, that you spend the most effort on.

Use one paragraph to expand about where you work, and what laboratory or clinical expertise you have. If you are managing a department or a program, here is where you would talk about that program and any collaborative relationships with other laboratories/departments/hospitals you may have established.

In another paragraph, if you are doing research, expand upon your research interests, be they basic, clinical, or educational (as appropriate). Explain what you have done, what your current focus is, and what impact it has had or is expected to have.

Make sure to report on your contributions as a teacher in the laboratory, clinical or lecture room setting. Talk about any teaching program or curriculum development with which you are involved, either locally or nationally. The entire narrative should be only one page long and should clearly describe who you are as a professional, what your primary functions and responsibilities are, and what your current and future contributions to academic programs of teaching and scholarship may be.