How to Write a Perfusionist Resume (With Example and Steps)

Perfusionists perform vital duties during heart surgery to preserve life and operate bypass machines. When applying for this role, a professional resume showcases your expert knowledge of the cardiovascular system, including the heart and lungs. Understanding how to write a resume for a perfusionist role can help you show a hiring manager you can operate in high-pressure environments such as operating rooms, and temporarily take responsibility for a patient's circulatory system. In this article, we discuss what a perfusionist resume is and provide a step-by-step guide to creating one with a template and an example.

Please note that none of the companies, institutions or organisations mentioned in this article are affiliated with Indeed.

What is a perfusionist resume?

A perfusionist resume is a document used in recruitment processes to show hiring managers that you have expert-level knowledge of the cardiovascular and circulatory systems. A well-presented resume can help you to secure a job interview. Interviews provide an opportunity to discuss your medical knowledge and experience with processes such as using extracorporeal circulation equipment during surgery in more depth.

Resumes contain dedicated sections in which you can explain your medical achievements, such as operating during long open-heart surgical procedures, and key skills that allow you to effectively monitor patient vitals, administer medication and operate ventricular assist devices. Resumes also explain your previous work experience, helping the hiring manager understand your level of familiarity with operating in surgical settings and working on high-risk cases. This allows them to decide whether you can conduct all the surgical procedures the role requires.

Related: What Does a Perfusionist Do? (And How To Become One)

Find perfusionist jobs

How to write a cardiovascular perfusionist resume

Here's a step-by-step guide to creating a resume for a perfusionist role:

1. Research cardiovascular perfusionist roles

Before beginning to write your resume, conduct thorough research on the perfusionist role. This allows you to determine which medical skills and areas of cardiovascular knowledge to showcase. Researching the role prior to writing your resume helps you select the most valuable perfusionist skills to emphasise, such as comprehensive anatomical knowledge and an understanding of pharmacology.

This research can also help you understand the academic experience that hiring managers expect you to have. For example, some roles may require a Bachelor of Science or a medical degree with a specialisation in perfusion theory and practice. Conducting this research can help you customise your resume to the perfusionist role and select the relevant skills to demonstrate that you're able to preserve life with cardiovascular and respiratory equipment.

Related: 13 Careers in Cardiology (With Responsibilities and Salaries)

2. Create a resume header

Once you're confident about which information to include in your resume, create a resume header that contains your contact information. This includes your full name, city and state or territory, email address and phone number. You can also provide your certification level to show you've studied perfusion theory and practice. This helps the hiring manager immediately establish that you're qualified for this medical role. Additionally, providing contact information ensures that the hiring manager can easily communicate any updates about your application's progress to you.

Related: 16 Hospital Jobs to Consider

3. Write a professional summary

The professional summary explains your key perfusion accomplishments in greater detail. It is typically two or three sentences and expresses how many years of experience you have working in operating theatres and your understanding of open-heart surgery. A professional summary can also contain more specific information, such as any experiences you have where your actions made a difference in a patient's life.

Additionally, you can explain the key skills that help you manage a patient's blood flow and body temperature. The purpose of the professional summary is to encourage the hiring manager to continue reading your resume. Therefore, it's ideal to focus on medical procedures that you understand and have experience providing respiratory and circulatory support for, alongside key achievements that align with the job description.

Related: How to Write a Resume Summary with Examples

4. Add your work experience

Your work experience section provides the hiring manager with an overview of your experience operating in surgical settings. It's an opportunity to communicate your understanding of blood salvaging, limb profusion, organ procurement and providing mechanical circulatory support. The work experience section provides your most applicable job titles alongside the hospital or clinic name and employment dates.

When creating this section, provide brief bullet points that explain how many surgical procedures you have experience with, whether you have any experience with specialist perfusion tasks, such as bypass for liver surgeries, and which assistive devices you use for circulation. This information helps the hiring manager determine whether you have up-to-date experience and knowledge of cardiopulmonary bypasses. Any special experience, such as responding to emergencies, may also make your application more impressive.

Related: How to Show Work Experience on Your Resume (With Example and Tips)

5. Provide your skills

The skills section demonstrates whether you're able to multitask during surgery while closely monitoring vitals such as body temperature, blood pressure and oxygen levels. Your hard skills show a hiring manager what tasks you can complete during surgery, while soft skills demonstrate how you organise yourself and manage pressure in surgical settings. Consider prioritising the skills that demonstrate your expert perfusion knowledge, such as inserting or assisting with intra-aortic balloon counter-pulsation or researching how to provide circulatory support, as this can increase your chances of securing an interview. Here are some examples of skills to include:

• organ procurement

• quick response in emergencies

• multitasking

• expert knowledge of anatomical structures

• pharmacology knowledge

• communication.

Related: Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills

6. Include your educational background

Your educational background helps the hiring manager decide whether you have the necessary qualifications to assist with surgical procedures and understand anatomy and heart structures. You can include your Bachelor of Science degree alongside your accredited training course certification in perfusion theory and practice. Alongside this, you can also include your Certificate of Clinical Perfusion from the Australasian Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion to show you're authorised to practise and assist in open-heart surgeries.

Related: How to Become a Cardiac Technician (Including Salary)

Resume template

Here's a resume template you can use for a perfusionist job application:

[First name] [Last name], [Degree or certification if applicable]
[Phone number] | [Email address] | [City], [State or Territory]

Professional Summary
[Two to three sentences that highlight your years of experience, relevant skills, education or certifications and achievements as a professional.]

Experience

(For the most recent role, list 5 experience items. For previous roles, list 3.)

[Job Title] | [Employment dates]
[Company Name] | [City], [State or Territory]

• (strong verb) + what you did (more detail) + reason, outcome or quantified results

• [job duty]

• [job duty]

• [job duty]

• [job duty]

[Job Title] | [Employment dates]
[Company Name] | [City], [State or Territory]

• (strong verb) + what you did (more detail) + reason, outcome or quantified results

• [job duty]

• [job duty]

Skills
[Skill] | [Skill] | [Skill] | [Skill] | [Skill] | [Skill]

Education
[Degree and Major], [Name of School or University]
[City], [State or Territory]

Certifications (optional)
[Certification Name], [Host Organisation], [Year completed or expiration date]

Resume example for cardiovascular perfusionist

Below is an example of a filled-in resume for perfusionists:

Sarah Silva, Certificate of Clinical Perfusion
0491 570 156| ssilva@maill.com | Melbourne, Victoria

Professional Summary

Qualified medical perfusionist with over four years of experience working on open-heart and abdominal procedures, providing critical circulatory support for patients. Dedicated to continuous research and development to find ways of providing a better standard of patient care and committed to closely monitoring patient vital signs during procedures to ensure they remain safe. Works collaboratively with medical colleagues to support patients during their pre-operative and post-operative care, ensuring they understand the procedure to the fullest extent.

Experience

Cardiovascular perfusionist | January 2021–Current
Victory Hill Medical Centre | Melbourne, Victoria

• provide circulatory support during surgery, ensuring patients remain stable while their blood passes through machines during open-heart surgery

• offer constant communication of body temperature and vitals to the surgeon during procedures

• isolate limbs to provide circulatory support during procedures

• liaise with organ procurement departments for transplant procedures

• create written reports after procedures to summarise patients' conditions

Cardiovascular perfusionist | April 2019–January 2021
Sunrise Cardiothoracic Medical Centre | Melbourne, Victoria

• supplied circulatory support during procedures to keep vital organs alive while on bypass

• responded to emergencies during procedures, ensuring the patient remained safely on bypass while they received care

• explained the bypass procedure to patients to comfort them before surgery

Skills Stress management | Communication | Multi-tasking | Attention to detail | Bypass equipment operation | Organ procurement

Education

Bachelor of Science (Biology), The Medical University of Victoria
Melbourne, Victoria

Certificate of Clinical Perfusion, Australasian Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion, 2018