OET Writing

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Writing : (45 mins)

Unlike IELTS, in OET, writing test includes letter writing for 45mins. The letter can be a referral, a transfer or a discharge according to the given case notes. But mostly for doctors ,it's a referral letter. Out of the 45 mins first 5 mins are to read the case notes and only after that we are allowed to write the letter.

Case notes is similar to what we see in our wards with a typical presentation, past visits, past, social, treatment history etc with a provisional diagnosis and treatment given at the clinic. At the end of case notes there will be a task with details like, to whom the letter should be addressed, urgency of the situation and your expectations from the doctor you are writing to. We need to filter out only the relevant details from the given history and present them to the reader as per the given task. No more,No less. Letter should be from 180 to 200 words of length.

What details to include? - depends on the type of the letter, knowledge of the reader, urgency of the situation.

Referral :

The patient is being referred to a specialist for referral about something specific. We need to tailor only those details that are needed for specialist opinion or treatment. This is because the patient's overall care is still yours. So, no need include details like social or non-specific information.

Transfer :

The patient is being transferred into someone else's care. Your patient will not come back to you. So, we need to include all the information that is needed to continue his/her care after the transfer.

Discharge :

The patient was admitted in your care for something. You've looked after him whilst his stay. Now, he/she is being discharged into their regular care. We don't need to mention details that are already familiar to his/her GP like irrelevant past medical history, social history etc. Choose the information from the case notes that is related to your care during the time of admission.

Remember that this is an English test rather than a medical exam. Proper article use, punctuation, verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, tone of the writer, organising information and also the content of the letter are important to get grade-B.

25 mins are enough to write the letter. Before writing, a good time should be spent on picking, organising and planning the letter. Sample tests at OET official website.