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What would I put on my resume as a 10th grader interested in going to college for medicine ?
What would I put on my resume as a 10th grader interested in going to college for medicine?
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Michael J’s Answer
Get involved in the field as much as you can. Consider EMT training, working as a hospital aide, or exploring IT for health. You could also try being a research or blood draw trainee. Medicine is a long journey, but there are many great paths you can take, like PA school, nursing, becoming a nurse practitioner, or a CRNA. Gain as many experiences as possible. Look into Global Health Initiatives and try working as a screener. You've got this!
Updated
Liam’s Answer
Jade! I see your class's questions and because yours is the first one I saw I am going to answer all of them in one post! The deal is you need to share this post with all of them! You have the power now!!
Dear 10th grade students of Chicago,
You are asking "what would (or can) I put on my resume as a 10th grader interested in [career or school]". I think it is amazing you are thinking about this now and I encourage you to embrace the answers you will get as a part of your strategy to gain employment in the specialty you wish to pursue.
Answering the question "what can I put as a 10th grader on my resume" is limited. You don't have much experience on the job, if any at all. That's ok, but ideally that is what a resume is for. If your idea is "I want to be a zoologist" and you want to get a job at an animal shelter, I think it's worth a mention. I would mention it in the objective. If your idea is "I want to be a geologist" and you are applying to a retail job, maybe mention it on the bottom third of the resume but it really wont make an impact.
The thing you should worry about right now versus your career is how can you build relevant skills that will help you in the future. That's it. Do you ever wonder why as a student you play an orchestral instrument AND play soccer AND do three types of math AND read all sorts of books? Those are all skills. It is your job as a student to learn as many skills as you can. Other than your teachers, can you name an adult that plays an orchestral instrument OR plays soccer OR does one type of math OR read anything other than news and magazines? That's my point! But those adults all have a job of some kind and are able to really make money and grow professionally. Working a job is a skill as well, adults are more focused on those skills and their resume is an introduction to those skills.
If you have some skills that you are able to demonstrate I would feel confident putting those skills out there. If you have a career path you want to follow, I would feel confident putting that out there as well, but more as a wish list. For example, "I would like to be a zoologist, working at an animal shelter will give me the skills I need in order to follow my career path". This makes sense and would likely create an opportunity for you. If you are walking into your first job and you have in your overview "I would like to be a zoologist" and its a retail job, that doesn't help. If you have in your education section "focusing towards an education in zoology" explaining time you have spent at school, that makes sense, but again that would likely be the bottom third of your resume.
A resume done for a person mid career and shifting opportunities is going to have an overview, "I am the best employee for this position because reasons" but is then immediately filled with most of their professional skills front and forward. Next comes their work experience because that is the second most relevant thing. Next comes schooling and education, and last comes any special mentions of activities/ projects/ clubs/ or other information that might be interesting to the employer. For example "I rescued three raccoons on my own and rehabilitated them so they could return to the wild".
So what should you put on your resume. Well its 2026. A great place to show off some of your skills is online. You can make small projects or write small articles, also just showing an interest in something is enough to get someone's attention. Make a blog (from the ground up) and include information you have about the field you are interested in. Make sure the blog is clean and professional and then put a link on your resume to show off what you do. You want that zoology job but you need to do retail, at the bottom of your resume there is the link "www.irescued3raccoonsonce.com" explaining its a project you did. That shows that you are likely interested in zoology but have more skills than just zoology. If you don't want to do all of that, you can make a LinkedIn page at age 16, right about where you are right now. Same thing, put it on your resume and like the areas of study you are into on the page so you can show what you do but be able to not make your resume about that field of study.
I went off topic with this but for medicine, I had a friend who's wife did this to get into medical school. Her mother was in a car accident and had a string of injuries from it where it took years for her to recover. She recounted how her mom was hit by the other car and explained the injuries and recovery in a blog. It started with "this angle and this hit broke these bones" and concluded with "these exercises helped rehabilitate her injuries". I read it and it was awesome! Regular entries, book studies along with research, and pictures for everything.
Get work experience doing anything, put that on your resume. Get skills doing something that will be valuable at work, put that on your resume. Link your activities and work to your career goal, feel free to mention it but it is not going to make your resume shine, right now. Create something that you can add to your resume that will show off those skills.
Lastly, get references. Employers don't know you. Get adults that are not your relatives or teachers that are willing to hop on the phone and say "Jade? Yeah shes great at anything and I think she will love that job!". Make sure you ask them and that they know when the employer is calling.
https://www.youtube.com/live/JxNp01jim24 - what resumes in 2026 should be. If you email him he will send a set of samples for free as well.
https://www.youtube.com/live/kyaBBn7nF-0 - this is how you should view your future employment.
https://www.youtube.com/live/ug56Kw7f6Wo - similar video I feel is good as well.
do not register www.irescued3raccoonsonce.com domain, I am going to get to it later, I like the way it rings.
Dear 10th grade students of Chicago,
You are asking "what would (or can) I put on my resume as a 10th grader interested in [career or school]". I think it is amazing you are thinking about this now and I encourage you to embrace the answers you will get as a part of your strategy to gain employment in the specialty you wish to pursue.
Answering the question "what can I put as a 10th grader on my resume" is limited. You don't have much experience on the job, if any at all. That's ok, but ideally that is what a resume is for. If your idea is "I want to be a zoologist" and you want to get a job at an animal shelter, I think it's worth a mention. I would mention it in the objective. If your idea is "I want to be a geologist" and you are applying to a retail job, maybe mention it on the bottom third of the resume but it really wont make an impact.
The thing you should worry about right now versus your career is how can you build relevant skills that will help you in the future. That's it. Do you ever wonder why as a student you play an orchestral instrument AND play soccer AND do three types of math AND read all sorts of books? Those are all skills. It is your job as a student to learn as many skills as you can. Other than your teachers, can you name an adult that plays an orchestral instrument OR plays soccer OR does one type of math OR read anything other than news and magazines? That's my point! But those adults all have a job of some kind and are able to really make money and grow professionally. Working a job is a skill as well, adults are more focused on those skills and their resume is an introduction to those skills.
If you have some skills that you are able to demonstrate I would feel confident putting those skills out there. If you have a career path you want to follow, I would feel confident putting that out there as well, but more as a wish list. For example, "I would like to be a zoologist, working at an animal shelter will give me the skills I need in order to follow my career path". This makes sense and would likely create an opportunity for you. If you are walking into your first job and you have in your overview "I would like to be a zoologist" and its a retail job, that doesn't help. If you have in your education section "focusing towards an education in zoology" explaining time you have spent at school, that makes sense, but again that would likely be the bottom third of your resume.
A resume done for a person mid career and shifting opportunities is going to have an overview, "I am the best employee for this position because reasons" but is then immediately filled with most of their professional skills front and forward. Next comes their work experience because that is the second most relevant thing. Next comes schooling and education, and last comes any special mentions of activities/ projects/ clubs/ or other information that might be interesting to the employer. For example "I rescued three raccoons on my own and rehabilitated them so they could return to the wild".
So what should you put on your resume. Well its 2026. A great place to show off some of your skills is online. You can make small projects or write small articles, also just showing an interest in something is enough to get someone's attention. Make a blog (from the ground up) and include information you have about the field you are interested in. Make sure the blog is clean and professional and then put a link on your resume to show off what you do. You want that zoology job but you need to do retail, at the bottom of your resume there is the link "www.irescued3raccoonsonce.com" explaining its a project you did. That shows that you are likely interested in zoology but have more skills than just zoology. If you don't want to do all of that, you can make a LinkedIn page at age 16, right about where you are right now. Same thing, put it on your resume and like the areas of study you are into on the page so you can show what you do but be able to not make your resume about that field of study.
I went off topic with this but for medicine, I had a friend who's wife did this to get into medical school. Her mother was in a car accident and had a string of injuries from it where it took years for her to recover. She recounted how her mom was hit by the other car and explained the injuries and recovery in a blog. It started with "this angle and this hit broke these bones" and concluded with "these exercises helped rehabilitate her injuries". I read it and it was awesome! Regular entries, book studies along with research, and pictures for everything.
Get work experience doing anything, put that on your resume. Get skills doing something that will be valuable at work, put that on your resume. Link your activities and work to your career goal, feel free to mention it but it is not going to make your resume shine, right now. Create something that you can add to your resume that will show off those skills.
Lastly, get references. Employers don't know you. Get adults that are not your relatives or teachers that are willing to hop on the phone and say "Jade? Yeah shes great at anything and I think she will love that job!". Make sure you ask them and that they know when the employer is calling.
Liam recommends the following next steps:
Updated
Madison’s Answer
Hi Jade! It's great that you're getting involved in the field so early. Working in the field of medicine/healthcare can be a very time consuming field to master, but it is highly rewarding. Mostly, these programs want to see that you are actively taking interest in the field. Volunteering at a local hospital or clinic are great sources of getting involved and building experience. Reaching out to a doctor or healthcare professional to shadow can also be helpful. This can be as easy as a quick Google search for a hospital in your area and finding the department that you are interested in observing. Many professionals are very welcoming to students who want to shadow!
In addition to medicine related topics on your resume, medical programs want to see your unique person. For example, I used to work in the deli at a grocery store. Am I planning on pursuing a career in grocery management? Nope. But working at this deli taught me time management under pressure, which can be crucial in medicine. It also taught me customer service skills, which (in medicine terms) can be translated into charismatic bedside manner and using critical thinking to solve problems. There is always a way to connect back to the medical field!
Overall, my main advice for creating a medicine focused resume is to let your curiosity run wild and continue to pursue what makes you happy. Learning about the field while balancing your own activities shows them that you can multitask while keeping your enthusiasm for the job.
Good luck!!
In addition to medicine related topics on your resume, medical programs want to see your unique person. For example, I used to work in the deli at a grocery store. Am I planning on pursuing a career in grocery management? Nope. But working at this deli taught me time management under pressure, which can be crucial in medicine. It also taught me customer service skills, which (in medicine terms) can be translated into charismatic bedside manner and using critical thinking to solve problems. There is always a way to connect back to the medical field!
Overall, my main advice for creating a medicine focused resume is to let your curiosity run wild and continue to pursue what makes you happy. Learning about the field while balancing your own activities shows them that you can multitask while keeping your enthusiasm for the job.
Good luck!!