Some employers request a covering letter for your CV in order to assess your motivation of applying, this is why in some places it is called motivation letter too. Usually covering letter should answer briefly few questions like:
1. who you are.
2. what is your qualifications and experience.
3. why have you chosen this specialty/department to work in.
4. why have you chosen that institution/place/country
5. what are your objectives and future plans for joining that specialty and place.
finally don't forget to write a short introduction and a closing paragraph. Your covering letter should be in one A4 page, so try to answer all the above questions in a single page.
the following is a covering letter i worked on with a friend of mine who was applying for a residency program in France:
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Please allow me to introduce myself as someone who is planning to get specialized through a world class medical training program that has been always known to create the most skillful and knowledgeable doctors.
My name is Folan Ellan alfolani, a Sudanese young doctor who graduated from Bla Bla University, Medical College in 2008. Just after finishing my internship I have been employed in SudaMediCa Hospital, Khartoum, as an SHO (Senior house Officer = Medical Officer = Staff Physician)
Following a long discussion with our college seniors I decided to join the branch of Surgery considering that I am an active hardworking person who likes to have the patients’ problem solved at the shortest possible time for the longest possible period. After starting my internship I noticed that our local life style along with other factors has its huge effect on our hearts. I have always believed that the heart is the king of organs, so cardiac surgery fulfilled my interest, desire to help and my believes.
France is known to be the spark of enlightenment through the course of history, thus made France a very reach cultural country that has influenced many parts of the world. France has the best life expectancy and the best health care system in the world that made it a cynosure for sick people and for professional health care providers who wish to become distinguished global figures in their specialty. Being an ambitious person, of course I would be honored by living in France for some time and I will be pleased to join a specialization program in one of the most international reputation countries.
Joining the best health care system in the world as a trainee, would for sure give me the confidence to deal with my patients’ problems in a very professional approach, and it would also equip me to be a Very Skillful Cardiac Surgeon who is well ranked in the local and international medical society. That would also help me to reach one of my targets in establishing a highly standardized Cardiac Surgery Training Program in my beloved country in addition to providing the best cardiac surgery service in the area.
Apart from all the professional and academic ambitions, I have always dreamed of getting in touch and learning from a society that taught the world the art of living and played a major rule in influencing the human intellectual and ideological map. Being in France to join the French Residency Program will not only make me a better doctor, it would make me a more elegant human as well.
Al-Folani, Folan