Of all the documents required for your ehealth application, the resume is the single piece fully in your control. It is an opportunity to present unique content about you to the admissions committee. Transcripts, test scores, and references are either fixed or written by others, but your resume is your opportunity to actively shape your story and stand out among other applicants.
You need to use the resume template provided on the MSc ehealth admissions website. Limit your resume to 2 pages.
Guide to preparing your resume
While the MSc ehealth program does not reveal how they evaluate your resume, it is fair to assume they are looking for traits and skills of a (future) ehealth professional described by the program's admission requirements. Do not simply copy and paste a resume you used for co-op, because it’s likely prepared in a different context and for a different goal.
So then the question is, what does the admissions committee look for?
The main requirements are a passion for the study of eHealth, a background in computing and a strong interest in the use of computing support in health care applications.
-- McMaster MSc ehealth admissions website
Below, I will break down what this means and give you a comprehensive guide to preparing your resume.
Requirement 1: Passion
Integrating technology into convoluted clinical workflows, addressing stringent regulatory requirements, and balancing the human aspects of ehealth with technology make ehealth a challenging field, sometimes even discouraging. This is why the admissions committee look for signs of passion for ehealth in you. It is this passion that motivates ehealth professionals to overcome setbacks and maintain motivation to drive ehealth projects forward.
Here are some ways you can demonstrate passion in your resume:
- Show perseverance in projects - ie. note challenges overcome when developing or testing a health app or dataset model in bullet points.
- Show long-term interest - ie. you've consistently volunteered in a healthcare setting for a long period of time.
- Show self-driven learning - ie. membership and readership to this blog, or participating in health-related hackathons, or self-studying online courses in the activities/interests section.
By incorporating passion into your resume, you can present yourself as resilient and motivated - qualities essential for future success as an ehealth professional.
Requirement 2: A background in computing
While this seems a little contradictory as on the same page on the admissions website they say "A background in computer science is not required". So what does this mean?