As a requirement, most healthcare professionals seeking either to work or study in an English-speaking environment need to present proof of their English language abilities. The Occupational English Test is one such exam designed for many healthcare professionals. This blog focuses on what makes one OET exam different from the other, a comparison of the OET exam conducted for nurses, doctors, and pharmacists. The understanding of these differences is critical to candidates’ preparation for it and consequently scoring as desired.

The OET is an international English language proficiency test, which is designed specifically for the health sector. It assesses the extent of English language proficiency of health professionals seeking registration to practice in an English-speaking environment. This means testing four language skills: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking, each sub-test reaching into the requirements regarding language proficiency as applicable to different professions within healthcare.

The OET was designed by Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment, a venture between Cambridge Assessment English and Box Hill Institute, and is accepted by a wide array of regulatory healthcare bodies and educational establishments. Obviously, this adds to the list besides Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, and Singapore. The test is based on real workplace tasks and scenarios, so it is very practical and useful for healthcare professionals.

The OET for Nurses deals with situations and language relevant to nursing practices. This, in essence, evaluates communication skills that would be needed in healthcare concerning the articulation of the needs of patients, giving clear instructions, and integration among other health professionals.

Test Format

Listening: This is a common sub-test for all professions including nurses. There are three parts to it and the candidate’s ability in understanding spoken English in relation to health-related situations is tested.

Part A: Consultations: This part consists of listening to two patient consultations and filling in the notes.

Part B: Short Workplace Extracts: Candidates listen to six recordings of short workplace interactions and answer one multiple-choice question for each.

Part C: Presentation Extracts: This part involves listening to two presentations or interviews and answering multiple-choice questions.

Reading: As with Listening, the Reading subtest is the same for all professions. It contains three parts that test the candidate’s ability to read a variety of texts.

Part A: Rapid Reading Task: Candidates read four short texts about one healthcare topic and answer a summary.

Part B: This section contains six short texts that are on subjects about workplace communications, with one multiple-choice question each.

Part C: A candidate reads two longer texts on healthcare topics and ans

Writing: This is the Writing sub-test for nurses, where the candidate is required to write a referral letter, a discharge letter, or any other letter of a similar nature based on a given case note. This section is unique to the nursing profession.

Speaking: The Speaking sub-test comprises role-plays involving communication with a patient or relative. Such scenarios are specifically designed to simulate routine nursing situations, like admitting a patient or health education-related activities.

How to Prepare

• Learn some common nursing scenarios and vocabulary.
• Write a referral letter or a discharge letter using case notes for practice.
• Practice speaking through role-plays on real life scenarios in nursing.

OET for Doctors has been designed to test the language needed for medical practice. It is basically a test of the candidate’s ability to communicate accurately with patients, their relatives, and other health professionals about medical-related issues and situations.

Format

Listening: The Listening sub-test is common to all healthcare professions, including doctors.

Part A: Listen to two patient consultations and complete the notes.

Part B: Listen to recordings of short workplace interactions and answer one multiple-choice question for each.

Part C: Listen to two presentations or interviews and answer multiple-choice questions.

Reading: The Reading sub-test is again generic to all professions, dealing with the skill of comprehending various sorts of written texts.

Part A: Read brief texts concerning one healthcare topic only and answer a summary.

Part B: Candidates are given brief texts regarding workplace-related communications, with one multiple-choice question each.

Part C: Read longer texts about healthcare topics and answer multiple-choice questions.

Writing: The Writing sub-test for doctors requires writing a letter of referral, a letter of discharge, or other correspondence based on medical case notes. This section is purely meant for doctors.

Speaking: This sub-test takes the form of role-plays whereby the candidate will be required to interact either with a patient or a relative, but focusing on medical scenarios; this could include explaining the diagnosis, discussing treatment options, or taking a history.

Preparation Tips

Study common medical terminologies and scenarios. Practice writing referral and discharge letters, given detailed medical case notes. Engage in speaking practice by setting up role-plays typical of doctor-patient interactions.

The OET for Pharmacists has been developed to focus upon the expression of the language used in pharmaceutical practice. It tests how well one can communicate with patients, health professionals, and colleagues on pharmaceutical-related topics.

Test Format

Listening: The format for the Listening sub-test is the same for all professions, including pharmacists.

Part A: Listen to two patient consultations and complete the notes.

Part B: You will hear short recordings of workplace interactions and you need to answer one multiple-choice question for each.

Part C: You will listen to two presentations or interviews and answer multiple-choice questions.

Reading: Well, the reading sub-test is common to all professions as well. It involves the ability to understand different types of text.

Writing: The Writing sub-test for pharmacists involves writing a letter of referral, a report, or similar documents based on pharmaceutical case notes. This section belongs exclusively to the pharmaceutical profession.

Speaking: The Speaking sub-test contains role-plays that involve a patient or relative the candidate needs to talk to, tailored to pharmaceutical situations. Such situations may include those of medication counseling, describing prescription details, or raising and addressing patients’ concerns.

Preparation Tips

Familiarize yourself with the terms and situations that are unique to pharmaceutical vocabulary.

It is also good practice to write a draft referral letter or report, or any other document, from the given case notes.

Through role-play, practise speaking in different pharmaceutical situations.

Listening and Reading

The Listening and Reading subtests are identical for all healthcare professions: nurses, doctors, and pharmacists. These two sub-tests assess the candidate’s ability to comprehend spoken and written English used in a health care environment. Obviously, the content is the same, but the context might differ slightly, although the assessed skills remain the same.

Writing

The Writing sub-test differs significantly among professions:

Nurses: Write a letter of referral, a discharge letter, or one of similar nature, from given nursing case notes.

Doctors: Referral letters, discharge letters, or any other such medical document from medical case notes.

Pharmacists: Referral letters, reports, or any other form about pharmaceutical case notes.

Speaking

This sub-test consists of profession-based role-plays. For example:

Nurses: Admission of a patient, health education, and patient care instructions.

Doctors: Explanation of diagnosis, discussion of treatment, and taking of medical history.

Pharmacists: Take part in activities like counselling about medications, explaining issues regarding prescription, or patients’ queries.

Key Differences

Content: In both Writing and Speaking sub-tests, the Language content is designed to reflect profession-specific language use.

Preparation: While the Listening and Reading sections are general healthcare language proficiency-based, the Writing and Speaking sections are professionalism-based when it comes to preparation.

Healthcare professionals are supposed to opt for the correct version of the OET, according to the field they belong to. It is only by investing time to understand the test format and practice relevant tasks that candidates can achieve a good OET score for career advancement in English-speaking environments. Basically, the OET comparison Nurse Doctor Pharmacist gives a glimpse of what may be expected and how one must plan for the test, ensuring each healthcare professional has the required standards of proficiency in their language use. Besides, the OET does something regulatory bodies and employers relish: its practical orientation reflects real-life situations healthcare professionals face in their professional practice.