The nature of a doctor assistant role can span the breadth of medicine. Writing a cover letter that connects your experience to the specific demands of the role is the best way to get yourself on that interview list. Patient care is an essential part of a doctor assistant’s role. Tell your future boss all about your bedside manner.
A doctor cover letter allows you to explore the stories behind your medical achievements. With 180+ cover letter examples and guides, Resume.io is an expert resource for job seekers in any stage of their career. In this doctor assistant cover letter example and guide, we explore the following:
- Formatting the doctor assistant cover letter to highlight your stories
- How to compose the introduction, middle part and conclusion of the letter.
- Exploring how you approach patient care – exploring your impact
- Mistakes to avoid that might affect your chances. Errors are unthinkable at work.
According to Zippia, there are currently 61,787 openings for a doctor assistant in the U.S. with an average salary of $126,450.
Best format for a doctor assistant cover letter
Every part of a doctor assistant role is critical in so many ways, but in order to tell the best possible career story in your cover letter, the right format should make it easy to read. Cover letters have evolved into a specific format over the years and there is no reason for a doctor assistant to choose a different option:
- Cover letter header
- Greeting / salutation
- Cover letter intro
- Middle paragraphs (body of the letter)
- Ending paragraph of your cover letter
The doctor assistant cover letter guide offers a few profession-specific tips, but you may also want to check out our Resume.io comprehensive cover letter example which explores more general themes of job search language and content that could make a difference to how your cover letter comes across.
Here is a doctor assistant cover letter example that may give you some inspiration:
Dear Dr. Prawsley,
Having worked with Médecins Sans Frontieres in South America, I wanted to find a role on my return that was equally rewarding. Helping patients from over 20 countries made me realize that medicine is a truly international calling. Fluency in Spanish and Portuguese helped my doctor assistant work.
Working with migrant communities has been a passion ever since my university work experience at a detention facility. As a native speaker of Portuguese, I learned Spanish while completing my Master’s in Physician Assistant Studies. Helping sick migrants was where my career started.
In my work, I have performed a wide variety of therapeutic and surgical procedures, conducted and analyzed diagnostic procedures for hundreds of different conditions and worked with many excellent physicians.
Trauma care was the most rewarding part of my role as I accompanied more than 200 patients a week into the emergency room. My skills taking X-Rays, CT scans, MRIs are proficient.
I have worked hard to improve treatment procedures and operational processes. Anything to improve the patient experience should be investigated. My patient satisfaction rating 96% and a record 72% of my patients returned within a year for less urgent medical procedures. They trusted us with their care.
I would value the opportunity of an interview to discuss the needs of your patients. I feel that I am uniquely placed to add a different dimension to your medical facility – everyone has a human right to health care.
Sincerely,
Luis Santos
For even more writing and formatting advice, check out our related medical cover letter examples:
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Cover letter header
A doctor assistant’s cover letter header should be filled in with the same care as a patient’s vitals chart. This is the place to draw attention to your name and contact information, including your email and phone number. Any mistakes here could lead to a missed email or call - just when you need it most.
Whilst every doctor assistant seeks to be thorough in their work, there is no need to include a full home address in the cover letter. There are data protection issues here - you can share with the employer at the offer stage. There is also no requirement to write the postal address of the hospital - the cover letter is an electronic one.
Goal of the cover letter header: Include all your contact details and make sure that the header design looks functional and professional. Avoid too much color or too many flourishes.
Cover letter greeting and introduction
Doctor assistants should understand to whom they will be reporting, and the letter should be addressed as such. Check the spelling of the name on the job description. Phone the ward if you need to and you might have the chance to ask some additional questions. The HR manager might be your core contact, in which case address it to them.
It may be the case that you are going to be working for a range of medical professionals, in which case use the “Dear X Ward team” rather than the cold and impersonal “To Whom It May Concern.”
Goal of letter greeting: Respect the norms of communication and make the extra effort to personalize the letter. It may be read by a large number of people, but this human touch will be noted.
Having worked with Médecins Sans Frontieres in South America, I wanted to find a role on my return that was equally rewarding. Helping patients from over 20 countries made me realize that medicine is a truly international calling. Fluency in Spanish and Portuguese helped my doctor assistant work.
In your cover letter intro, detail your years of medical experience and ideally show that you have worked in a number of wards. You might start out in a certain role, but flexibility to learn new skills is important for any hospital. Ideally mention a previous employer that is similar in terms of size and patient base. The demands of every role will be different - show that you are able to roll with the changes.
If there are any unique reasons to consider your application, consider including them in the first paragraph. Just make sure that you don;t oversell something that is relatively common. Doctor assistant roles are competitive, so if you have anything that will set you apart from the crowd it is good to include early. Don’t bury your unique value in the middle of the letter. See our cover letter sample introduction below.
Goal of the cover letter intro: Demonstrate your specific medical experience from the first line. Show that you are proficient at picking up new skills. Offer your very best argument for employing you.
Cover letter middle part (body)
The middle part of a doctor assistant cover letter should mirror the job description in terms of the types of medical procedure that are involved, but with the addition of the depth of your experience. Tell them about how many procedures you assist every week, talk about your specialisms and share your professional development.
Depending on the nature of the hospital team that you are joining, your approach to patient care and patient satisfaction ratings are an important yardstick of your effectiveness as a doctor assistant. Share details about letters of recommendation to show that you value your impact on others. The opinions of your colleagues matter, too - you will be part of a larger medical team. If you trained at a prestigious institution, it should feature early in the letter.
Goal of the body of your cover letter: Make the middle of your doctor assistant cover letter read like a medical journal. Pack it with medical expertise and quantify it with context.
Working with migrant communities has been a passion ever since my university work experience at a detention facility. As a native speaker of Portuguese, I learned Spanish while completing my Master’s in Physician Assistant Studies. Helping sick migrants was where my career started.
In my work, I have performed a wide variety of therapeutic and surgical procedures, conducted and analyzed diagnostic procedures for hundreds of different conditions and worked with many excellent physicians.
Trauma care was the most rewarding part of my role as I accompanied more than 200 patients a week into the emergency room. My skills taking X-Rays, CT scans, MRIs are proficient.
I have worked hard to improve treatment procedures and operational processes. Anything to improve the patient experience should be investigated. My patient satisfaction rating 96% and a record 72% of my patients returned within a year for less urgent medical procedures. They trusted us with their care.
How to close a doctor assistant cover letter (conclusion and sign-off)
Close a doctor assistant cover letter with one last tale of how you made a difference for your patients and medical colleagues. You might not always be the one on the front line of medical care, but your work makes an undeniable difference. Show that you understand your value and tell your future boss what a difference it would make if they hired you.
The final part of any cover letter should be to express your excitement about a potential interview. It is natural that you want to understand more about the role, so adopt a hopeful tone about the possibility of a meeting. Be confident in your application, but not overly presumptuous. You cannot know exactly who they are looking for.
Goal of the ending: It is normal to state that you are looking forward to an interview, so normal, in fact, that not saying it might seem a little strange. Put your best foot forward. Make the final compelling argument.
I would value the opportunity of an interview to discuss the needs of your patients. I feel that I am uniquely placed to add a different dimension to your medical facility – everyone has a human right to health care.
Sincerely,
Luis Santos
Mistakes to Avoid
Avoid these errors to make an ideal first impression with your doctor assistant cover letter:
- Grammatical errors: Use a grammar checker online such as Grammarly, and maybe ask a friend to proofread that it sounds like you. You only get one chance to send it - ensure that there aren’t any typos.
- Warm but formal: A cover letter should be more conversational than a resume, but that doesn’t mean that you come across as you would in the hospital canteen in your lunch break. Avoid slang where possible.
- Attractive formatting: For a doctor assistant it is important that the look of the cover letter is simple and does not detract from your stories. Our professional cover letter templates offer plenty of choices.
Key takeaways
- Share your medical career. Be ruthless in making sure that every detail is relevant to the job.
- Show you future colleagues what it is like to work with you and share some of the toughest situations that you have faced. Make them wonder how you would improve their team.
- Check out our adaptable doctor assistant cover letter sample for more inspiration.
