ABOUT THE OET?
The Occupational English Test (OET) is a test of English for healthcare professionals. The OET is used in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore among others to assess the Medical English skills of a wide range of healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses and midwives.
OET – conducted by Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment Trust (CBLA)
- The exam designed for healthcare professionals who are looking to work in the healthcare sector in UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Ukraine, Namibia, Singapore and now accepted in Dubai, India and Philippines.
OET – is used by many organisations, including hospitals, universities and colleges, as a proof of a candidate’s ability to communicate effectively in a demanding healthcare environment.
It is recognized by the Australian Department of Home Affairs and Immigration New Zealand for all visa categories for non-native English nationalities.
Results are graded A to E.
- A – for a score ranges from 450-500 or an ability of candidate to communicate fluently and effectively with patients and health care professionals showing complete understanding in both written and spoken language.
- B – for a score ranges from 350-440 or an ability of candidate to communicate effectively with patients and health care professionals, showing understanding of clinical contexts with only occasional inaccurateness and hesitations.
- C+ – for a score ranges from 300-340 or a candidate ability to maintain interaction in a relevant healthcare environment despite occasional errors and lapses.
- C, D and E – these ranges of score from candidates are marked non-passers or not accepted by any organisation or hospital bodies from mentioned countries above.
OET Course Objectives
This intensive course focuses on the 4 Major English skills, (Reading, Listening, Speaking & Writing) based on workplace situation of healthcare professionals in a healthcare environment. A wide range of medical terminologies, with a specific focus on communicating effectively with patients and their significant others. You will work on exam strategies with profession-specific, specifically tailored to your needs and your profession.
Writing Assistance:
- Candidates would be assisted on how to identify what kind of reference letter to be made from 3 types of medical correspondence like discharge letter, transfer letter or referral letter.
- Students are giving assistance in identifying chief complaint of the patient, how the first paragraph runs until the interventions that is needed before clos ing a writing task.
- This particular task is profession-specific, hence, the nurse or doctor or any other medical professional would have to write accordingly base on the given details with appropriate linking words, verb tenses and correct usage of articles and prepositions.
Reading Assistance:
- Part A (Expeditious Reading) First task, students are providing assistance to identify keywords from the short passage to fill up the blanks or match following sentences and sentence completion from general healthcare information.
- Part B (Careful Reading) Second task can be a multiple short text related to generic healthcare topics about policy guidelines, hospital guides, manuals, emails, memos of internal communication in a healthcare facility.
- Part C (Careful Reading) Third and final task is pertaining to reading section. Students/candidates would be guided in identifying detailed meaning of the given topic in the paragraph and provide answer to the multiple questions.
Listening Assistance:
- Part A (Consultation Extract) Frist task, candidates/students are assisted in identifying missing words to complete specific information from listening to the recording of two-person, health professional-patient conversations.
- Part B (Short Workplace Extracts) Second task, fill in the blanks while listening to multiple recorded extracts about team briefings, interventions and handovers.
- Part C (Presentation Extracts) Third and final task, candidates/students are assisted on how to identify answers to multiple questions recorded about interview or presentation on accessible healthcare topics.
Speaking Assistance:
- First Part is an interview for 5 minutes Candidates are provided with possible random questions and how to answer them Second Part is a Role-Play of a profession-specific exercise
- Candidates/students are given 3 to 5 minutes preparation to prepare. They will be provided and given assistance on how to enact and Role-Playing their professional role in real life scenarios that would be playing by the examiner as a patient.
- Students will be given enough information about the role plays which are basically based on mock workplace situations that reflect the mood of the healthcare environment. They will be assisted with techniques and guidelines using the appropriate English grammar in delivering the role plays.
OET Preparation Course
The OET Intensive, which is suitable for all healthcare professions, is a 2-weekend preparation course that provides students with the essential skills and test-taking strategies needed to enhance their performance in the test. During the course, students will use specifically created practice material and will receive valuable support from the OET instructor for the listening, reading, writing and speaking components of the test. Students will also have a mock test with feedback at the end of the course as well as the opportunity to be provided with additional writing feedback online.
