What Is OET – All You Ought To Know? - Avigna Learning Academy

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Occupational English Test, or OET as more
commonly known, is a healthcare-specific English
language test that is specially designed for
practitioners that need to test their English
language skills in a healthcare-specific context.
It assesses the language skills of healthcare
professionals who wish to practice in an
English-speaking environment. This has made OET
more preferred to medical professionals than any
other English language test like IELTS and
TOEFL. The OET is available for 12 medical
professions including dentistry, dietetics,
medicine, nursing, occupational therapy,
optometry, pharmacy, physiotherapy, podiatry,
radiography, speech pathology, and veterinary
science.
The Past and Present The OET was first designed
in the late 1980s by Professor Tim McNamara,
under the guidance of the Australian National
Office for Overseas Skills Recognition. Ever
since, it has been researched upon and
developed, to ensure that it keeps up with the
current theories and practice in language
assessment. Today, the OET is recognized by
regulatory healthcare boards and councils in
Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Ireland, UK,
Namibia, Ukraine, and Dubai, as a proof of a
candidates ability to communicate effectively in
a demanding healthcare environment. So, if you
wish to study further in your medical profession,
or aspire to work in a medical institution or
facility in any of the aforementioned countries,
you ought to take the OET test.
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• The exam structure
• The OET exam is divided into four categories
  listening (45 minutes), reading (60 minutes),
  writing (45 minutes), and speaking (20 minutes)
  each category assessing the individual language
  skills of a candidate. Whatever the section, each
  emphasizes specifically on communication in
  medical and healthcare settings.
• Listening In this section, candidates are
  required to show that they can understand a
  range of health-related spoken materials like
  patient consultations and lectures.
• Reading Candidates are required here to show
  that they can read and understand different
  types of texts on health-related subjects.
• Writing Here, the task involves writing a
  letter related to patient referral, letter of
  transfer, letter of discharge, and the like.
• Speaking This section has candidates being
  involved in role-plays where they are supposed
  to take up the role of a doctor, nurse, or
  pharmacist, and converse with the examiner who
  plays the role of a patient, patients relative,
  or client.
• The scoring pattern
• Each of the four sections mentioned above are
  scored on a numerical scale from 0-500, in
  10-point increments. The numeric score is then
  mapped to a separate letter grade ranging from A
  to E, with A being the highest grade, and E being
  the lowest. There is no overall grade for OET,
  so you cannot score less in one section, and
  compensate for it by scoring higher in the other
  sections. Thus, you need to practice equally well
  for every section to score an A in each. And for
  this, you will require the guidance of one of
  the professional OET training institutes in
  India.
• Grade A (450-500 points) depicts that the
  candidate can communicate very fluently and
  effectively, using proper tone and lexis, meaning
  complete understanding of the English language.
• Grade B (350-440 points) depicts that the
  candidate can communicate effectively using
  proper tone and lexis, with occasional
  inaccuracies and hesitations, meaning good
  understanding of a range of clinical contexts.
• Grades C (200-290 points) and C (300-340 points)
  depicts that the candidate can maintain the
  interaction in a relevant healthcare environment
  despite of the occasional errors and lapses,
  meaning a normal understanding of the English
  language.

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• Grade E (0-90 points) depicts that the candidate
  can manage simple interaction on familiar topics
  and simple messages, but with high density errors
  and misuse of the language, meaning poor
  understanding of the English language.
• How to prepare for the OET?
• While there is a lot that you can do on your own
  to prepare for the OET exam, we would always
  suggest that you take up assistance from a
  professional. Avigna Learning Academy is one of
  the best OET training institutes in India where
  you can get enrolled to get the best quality
  coaching with essential skills and test taking
  strategies required to successfully complete the
  OET with best scores.
• For more information, visit https//avignalearnin
  g.com/