Writing Dos & Don’ts

Below are a list of simple points to remember on the day of your exam.
Do Don't
Summarise all the information from Follow a strict chronological order as
the case notes into sections such as: your letter may become too long,
treatment given and obvious trends, difficult to read and will not focus on
medication, medical history. This will the main problem and related
be both easier to write and read as factors.
well as avoiding repetition.
Try to write somewhere between Write over 220 words as it may
180 and 200 words for the body of affect your overall result. You being
the letter. This is the basic tested on your ability to write a clear
requirement of OET. concise letter, not a long letter.

Don’t write under 160 words as

there may not be sufficient range
language to get a B grade.

Omit information which is not Try to put all the information from
directly relevant to your task. This is the case notes into the letter. Your
a big trap for many candidates in letter will be too long and also poorly
that they try to write down all the organised and difficult to read
information from the task sheet.
This does not reflect reality.
Expand on all acronyms. For Overuse acronyms. You are being
example OPG should be written as tested on you ability to expand on
orthopantamogram, BP as blood case notes so make sure you do.
pressure and PR as pulse rate & hx
as history
Provide a simple clear summary of Use too much medical jargon.
the condition so that a lay person Remember it is a test of English not
could understand. Latin!
Use articles such as a/the before Forget that case notes are written in
countable nouns as this is a short form, so they do not follow
requirement of formal writing. standard grammatical rules. For
example, it is common to omit
articles.
Use synonyms so that you can Copy directly from the case notes
express the information from the without any changes. You are
case notes in different ways. expected to put the information into
your own words.
Spend time reading the case notes Start writing without planning your
and grouping information which are letter. You should allow 10 to 15
related such as medication,
persistent high blood pressure etc
etc
Allow 5 minutes at the end of the
test to proof read your work and fix
up any mistakes.
minutes reading case notes and
planning the letter.
Submit the letter without checking
for basic mistakes such as
grammar/spelling.