How to craft an excellent healthcare cover letter
Healthcare professionals serve a vital role in our society, providing essential care to people of all backgrounds. Earning a job within healthcare requires you to not only complete precise education and training but also craft a cover letter that showcases your qualifications and talents in the field.
In this guide, we will teach you 5 steps for writing a great cover letter as a healthcare professional. Keep reading to learn all about how to:
- Create your healthcare cover letter header & headline
- Personalize the greeting & content in a healthcare cover letter
- Write a compelling healthcare cover letter introduction
- Highlight your best professional skills & accomplishments in healthcare
- End your healthcare cover letter with a strong conclusion
1. Create effective healthcare cover letter header & headline
Giving your healthcare cover letter structure and visual appeal is crucial, as this helps to inspire a positive first impression on employers. To accomplish this, you will need to create a well-formatted cover letter header and headline.
A cover letter header is the first element to focus on crafting. Your header will include the key information about yourself (the applicant) and the company or institution you are applying to (the employer).
This information includes:
- Your name and professional title
- Your professional contact information (phone number, email address, LinkedIn, etc.)
- The name of the company and department you are applying to
- The company’s address (if mailing a physical letter, or if there are multiple company locations)
Here is an example of a properly formatted healthcare cover letter header
Mary Joe, Healthcare Assistant & Licensed Nurse
(123) 456-7890 | maryjoe@email.com | linkedin.com/in/mary-joe
To: Greenville Health Solutions, Nursing Department
1234 Street Address
Greenville, SC, 29601
Once you have created a header that includes all the necessary information, the next step is to write your headline. A cover letter headline is a short title statement that aids you in catching an employer’s attention as quickly as possible.
To write a cover headline, include a keyword related to the position, an eye-catching number or trigger word, a powerful adjective or verb, and a promise.
Here is an example of a well-written headling, followed by a quick explanation of its main elements
My 3-Step Approach to Empathetic Healthcare & How It Can Benefit Your Patients
Trigger Word/Number: 3-Step Approach
Keyword: Healthcare
Adjective/Verb: Empathetic, Benefit
Promise: Your Patients – this detail tells the employer that you will not only discuss your approach and skills but that you will also relate them directly to the needs of the company and its patients.
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2. Personalize the greeting & content in a healthcare cover letter
Let’s face it, employers read a lot of cover letters – and most of these letters end up forgotten or discarded due to generic wording and details.
To make your cover letter stand out to employers (and increase your chances of getting a call back) you need to personalize both the content and greeting found in the letter. This personalization process requires you to thoroughly research the company beforehand, looking for information such as:
- What the company’s core values are and what language they use in their marketing materials – you can reflect their values and language in your writing to help show why you are a great fit for the company.
- What projects or initiatives (community outreach, support programs, etc.) the company is involved in – this information will help you decide which of your skills, experience, or accomplishments are most relevant to include.
- Who at the company is most likely to review your cover letter and application – you can use this information to create a personalized greeting that addresses a specific person by name.
Here are 3 examples of personalized healthcare cover letter greetings
- Dear Dr. John Smith,
- Dear Dr. John Smith & the Healthcare Team,
- Dear Hiring Manager Jane Doe,
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3. Write a compelling healthcare cover letter introduction
After you have crafted your header and headline, as well as completed your company research, the next step is to write an eye-catching introductory paragraph.
A strong introduction will include:
- A concise summary of your professional experience and specializations
- Your motivation and/or enthusiasm for applying to this company
- A mutual acquaintance (when possible)
Pro Tip: Always include a mutual acquaintance when you can, as this establishes credibility and rapport with an employer. If you lack a mutual acquaintance, try using a professional platform like LinkedIn to expand your network.
Here is an example of a compelling healthcare cover letter introduction
Dear Dr. John Smith,
I am a healthcare professional with more than 7 years treating autoimmune disorders. After hearing about your institution’s research on rare autoimmune diseases, I felt compelled to reach out to one of your specialists – Dr. Jill Monroe – on LinkedIn to learn more. Dr. Monroe informed me of this opening and strongly recommended I apply, given my specialized experience.
4. Highlight your best professional skills & accomplishments in healthcare
A well-written cover letter is a powerful tool for many reasons – one of the top ones being that it gives you the best opportunity to showcase your most relevant skills and accomplishments.
Unlike a resume, a cover letter allows you to elaborate on your key experience and qualifications, offering answers to crucial questions such as:
- What specialized skills do you possess?
- What accomplishments or qualifications make you stand out as an applicant?
- How has your experience made you a more empathetic healthcare provider?
When describing your skills, accomplishments, and other qualifications, make sure to be as specific as possible. Include quantifiable information when you can, such as key statistics or verifiable facts.
Here are 6 examples of healthcare skills to describe in a cover letter
- Active listening
- Preparation of personalized treatment plans
- Administering and prescribing medications
- Maintaining patient medical charts and records
- Providing empathetic patient and family counseling
- Efficiently collaborating within a healthcare team
Here is an example of how to describe an accomplishment in a healthcare cover letter
As a healthcare provider at [Former Employer], I was responsible for patient intake, onboarding, and initial treatment planning. In this role, I implemented a new onboarding process that improved patient release times by 25% and improved overall patient ratings of the company by 85%.
5. End your healthcare cover letter with a strong conclusion
The final component of any well-written healthcare cover letter is a strong concluding statement. This statement should include:
- When you hope to hear from the employer
- How and when the employer can contact you
- When you intend to follow up
- A formal sign-off
Here is an example of an effective conclusion from a healthcare cover letter
As the newest addition to your healthcare team, I am certain I can build long-lasting, positive relationships with your patients. I greatly look forward to hearing from you and hope to connect within the next week. The best way to reach me is at (123) 456-7890 on any weekday between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. I will reach back out next Monday to check on my application if I have not heard back.
Best Wishes,
[Applicant Name]
If you have ever wondered how a cover letter differs from a resume, this article will tell you everything about the key differences between the two.
