CV Senior Physician: Example and Template
This is how to structure your CV as a Senior Physician in Switzerland - with FMH title, further training certificates and measurable results from daily clinical practice.
Currently 76 open Senior Physician positions in Switzerland, across 10 cantons, 17 of them from the last 7 days. Luzerner Kantonsspital advertises the most.
CV example — two-page template
This template is editable straight away — or upload your existing CV and it is carried into this layout automatically.
What qualifications and titles belong in a Senior Physician's CV?
Mandatory are the federal medical diploma or its MEBEKO recognition, the FMH specialist title and the cantonal licence to practise.
State the specialist title with field and year of award by SIWF at the top, for example 'FMH Specialist Title in General Internal Medicine, 2019'. Add any subspecialty titles and certificates of proficiency, such as SGUM ultrasound, SGNOR emergency physician or interventional procedures. The academic degree Dr. med. or PhD belongs in the education section and not solely in the header - the specialist title is the decisive signal for chief physicians and HR.
If you obtained your diploma abroad, list the MEBEKO recognition with date as well as your registration in the Register of Medical Professions (MedReg). Add your cantonal licence to practise and your residence status, i.e. citizenship, B or C permit. Hospitals check these points early, because without a licence no employment in a senior role is possible.
Also show that you fulfil your continuing education requirements: the continuing education diploma of the relevant specialist society (for example SGAIM, SGC or SGP) with a valid period demonstrates that you are up to date. Add regular recertifications such as ACLS, ATLS or NLS with the year, as these are relevant for on-call and standby duties.
How do I present my professional experience as a Senior Physician convincingly?
Describe the clinical context, scope of responsibility and three to four results with figures for each position, rather than general task lists.
Add a context line under each position: hospital type (university, centre or primary care hospital), number of beds, case numbers and the SIWF category of the training institution. Only this allows the reader to assess whether your experience matches the advertised position. A senior physician role in a Category A clinic with 24-hour on-call operations means something different from a day-clinic role.
Quantify both leadership and clinical work equally: number of residents supervised, beds in your responsibility, discharges per year, number of shifts, procedures or examinations performed. Add results from quality and process work, such as length of stay, rehospitalisation rate, CIRS measures, Case Mix Index or results from the SIWF training survey. Such figures distinguish you from candidates who merely list activities.
Keep a separate section ready for teaching, research and committees: publications with PubMed count, presentations at congresses such as the SGAIM Spring Congress, university tutorials as well as involvement in hygiene, tumour board or medication committees. If you have more than ten publications, refer in the CV to a separate publication list in the appendix.
How long should the CV be and does it need a photo?
For senior physicians, two to three pages is usual; a professional portrait photo is still well received in Switzerland, but not mandatory.
Medical CVs may be longer than in other industries, because training stations, rotations, certificates of proficiency and publications must be documented. Nevertheless, keep the main body to two to three pages and move publication and presentation lists to an appendix. Continuous dates with month and year are standard, as the SIWF-relevant training time must be traceable.
In Switzerland, the application dossier usually includes: cover letter, CV, diplomas, specialist title, references from all training stations (SIWF certificates), continuing education diploma, licences and, depending on the canton, a criminal record extract. Also prepare two to three referees from senior positions, typically the chief physician or clinic director from your most recent positions.
Regarding salary: for senior physicians, base salary bands often range between CHF 150'000 and CHF 200'000 per year depending on canton, hospital type and workload, with allowances for night, weekend and on-call duties. Do not state a salary expectation in the CV, but have a well-founded range ready for the interview, based on the collective employment agreement or the salary regulations of the respective hospital.
Where Senior Physician are hired in Switzerland
How the 76 open positions are spread across the cantons.
Figures as a table
| Canton | postings |
|---|---|
| Luzern | 8 |
| Basel-Stadt | 7 |
| Freiburg | 5 |
| Bern | 4 |
| Zürich | 4 |
| Graubünden | 3 |
| Appenzell Ausserrhoden | 2 |
| St. Gallen | 1 |
Which languages the postings require
Of 50 postings that state a language — in brackets, those requiring professional level.
Figures as a table
| Language | postings |
|---|---|
| German | 49 (47) |
| French | 9 (5) |
| English | 4 (2) |
| Italian | 1 (0) |
Who hires Senior Physician in Switzerland
Employers with the most open positions. Staffing agencies are excluded.
Figures as a table
| Employer | postings |
|---|---|
| Luzerner Kantonsspital | 12 |
| hopital fribourgeois (HFR) - freiburger spital (HFR) | 6 |
| Insel Gruppe | 4 |
| medicjobs.ch | 3 |
| Spital Emmental | 3 |
| Clienia-Gruppe | 3 |
Full-time or part-time?
How the positions are advertised.
Figures as a table
| Workload | postings |
|---|---|
| Vollzeit / plein temps | 65 |
| Teilzeit / partiel | 9 |
| Temporär | 1 |
The CV in full
To read through and reuse.
Dr. med. Sandra Bühlmann
Senior Physician General Internal Medicine, FMH Specialist Title, Dr. med.
Senior Physician with FMH specialist title in General Internal Medicine and 11 years of clinical experience in acute care hospitals providing centre-level care (level A and B). Responsible for a 32-bed ward, emergency consultation services and the structured training of 9 residents according to the SIWF training curriculum. Combines clinical leadership with process work on discharge management, SwissDRG coding quality and ANQ quality indicators.
What sets me apart
Recognised SIWF Trainer: Co-author of the training curriculum of a Category B clinic; conducts around 40 structured workplace-based assessments annually (Mini-CEX and DOPS) and documents these in the eLogbuch.
Emergency and bedside ultrasound expertise: Point-of-care ultrasound (abdomen, lungs, volume status) in the emergency department; reduced time to initial imaging assessment for internal medicine emergencies by an average of 38 minutes.
Coding and revenue quality: Close collaboration with medical coding: improved documentation quality led to a 0.06-point higher Case Mix Index without an increase in case reviews by the insurer.
Interprofessional process leadership: Leads weekly interprofessional board rounds with nursing, physiotherapy, social services and Spitex coordination; discharge planning from day 1 of hospitalisation.
Key achievements
Length of stay reduced by 1.3 days. Introduction of a standardised discharge process with checklist and discharge report within 48 hours: average length of stay reduced from 7.4 to 6.1 days with a stable 30-day rehospitalisation rate (below 9 percent).
Antibiotic stewardship established. Set up a weekly antibiotic ward round format with infectious disease specialists and hospital pharmacy: reduced broad-spectrum therapy days by 22 percent within 14 months, saving around CHF 78'000 in medication costs.
Training evaluation significantly improved. After revising the rotation schedule and introducing 45-minute case colloquia, the clinic's SIWF training survey score rose from 4.1 to 5.2 out of 6 points (n = 14 residents).
Experience
Senior Physician General Internal Medicine — Kantonsspital Aarethal, since 08/2021
Acute care hospital providing centre-level care, 340 beds, Department of Internal Medicine with 64 beds and an attached interdisciplinary emergency department.
- Clinical leadership of a 32-bed ward with around 1'100 inpatient discharges per year, occupancy consistently above 92 percent.
- Supervision of 9 residents and 4 medical students per semester, including 40 documented Mini-CEX/DOPS annually.
- Reduced average length of stay from 7.4 to 6.1 days through structured discharge management, without an increase in rehospitalisations.
- Established the antibiotic stewardship programme: 22 percent fewer broad-spectrum therapy days, cost effect of around CHF 78'000 per year.
Ward Physician / Hospital Specialist Internal Medicine — Spitalzentrum Birsmatt, 09/2019 - 07/2021
Regional primary care hospital with 120 beds, emergency department with around 14'000 consultations per year.
- Responsible for an average of 18 patients per day as well as 55 night and weekend shifts annually as on-call physician for internal medicine.
- Introduced point-of-care ultrasound in the emergency department: 210 documented examinations in the first year, imaging time reduced by 38 minutes.
- Set up delirium screening (CAM) on two wards; detection rate increased from 41 to 88 percent within 6 months.
- Chaired 24 morbidity and mortality conferences, resulting in 11 implemented CIRS measures.
Resident Physician Internal Medicine (rotations including ICU and cardiology) — Klinik Weissenrain, Zürich, 08/2013 - 08/2019
SIWF-recognised Category B training institution, rotations in general internal medicine, intensive care medicine, cardiology and emergency medicine.
- Completed the full SIWF training programme with 6 years of recognised training time and passed the FMH specialist examination on the first attempt.
- Cared for over 3'500 inpatient cases as well as around 900 emergency consultations as first assessor.
- Independently performed over 400 punctures and catheter placements (central venous line, arterial, pleural and ascitic punctures) without documented major complications.
- Two first-author publications in peer-reviewed journals and 3 poster presentations at the SGAIM Spring Congress.
Education
FMH Specialist Title, General Internal Medicine — SIWF/ISFM, FMH · 2019
Dr. med., Dissertation on rehospitalisation in heart failure — Faculty of Medicine, University of Bern · 2015
Federal Diploma in Human Medicine, Human Medicine (Master of Medicine) — University of Bern · 2013
SGUM Certificate of Proficiency in Ultrasound (Abdomen, Emergency Ultrasound) · ACLS/ALS Provider according to Swiss Resuscitation Council, recertification 2024 · CAS Medical Leadership and Healthcare Management, 2023 · Radiation protection expertise for dose-intensive applications (StSV)