OET VS IELTS
(WHICH ONE IS BETTER FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS?)
Whenever someone plans to work or study in an English speaking country they have to go through a specific English test so that they can prove their English skills are up to date.
Different professions have certain criteria for English test score but here I am focusing on Medical health professionals who need a specific score which is quite high as compared to the other professions. Sometimes it’s the only hurdle for them to pursue their dream career in English speaking countries. It’s an exam which they have to take many times to attain a particular score and it can be really heavy on someone’s pocket.
So let’s discuss what option do we have here if we want to be tested for English language and move on with our careers. There are two exams (IELTS and OET) which are currently being accepted by respective authorities. We get confused here to decide about which exam is easy or better for us in terms of money, exam availability and success chances. Let’s talk about these 3 categories for each exam so that it’s easy to decide which one is a better option.
OET has been developed specifically for 12 healthcare professions and this test reflects real workplace tasks and relevant language skills. However, IELTS exam is available for all kinds of professions including doctors, engineers etc.
Money:
This is the first question which comes in mind while choosing between these exams. OET exam costs around 455 USD which is almost double than that of IELTS which is 245 USD. Now If we see the cost of OET that is also justified because it is better to take exam once and move on towards your goal than to take a relatively cheaper exam and pay for it again and again.
Exam availability:
IELTS has more venues as compared to OET so one gets more options around dates and venues for IELTS. To check availability of IELTS and OET, one can visit respective web pages for both tests.
Success Rate:
This is an important consideration while choosing the test and I believe health professionals have higher chances of getting desired scores if they appear for OET exam instead of IELTs. Since the content of the test is very much aligned with their profession.
Even though the first two points mentioned earlier don’t go in favor of OET but this exam has given hope to those who have been trying for years just to increase their score from 6.5 to 7 in different domains of IELTS. Specifically, health professionals who are judged and scored on the basis of irrelevant scenarios and essays which have no role in their professional life.
Healthcare professionals should choose OET because it helps them prove they have the right level of English for any kind of interaction in their professional career. Majority of the people who opted for OET have succeeded and ratio of medical professionals prioritizing this exam is also increasing. People who opt for IELTS mostly get stuck in writing part and doctors are not supposed to be masters in English writing as we use English just as medium to communicate with our patients not for writing essays or novels for them.
So in my opinion one should think smartly and invest in something they are confident about.
PREPARATION:
Here comes the preparation part which is equally very important if you are planning for OET. If someone has taken IELTS before it becomes a little easy for them as 2 domains of OET are similar to that of IELTS. The difference comes in writing and speaking. OET official website has been my guide throughout my preparation and I used the free samples available on their website for practice. Along with that I watched a YouTube channel which is E2 learning by Jay about OET. The practice from free samples also gives you better understanding of exam pattern. I recommend everyone to go through the site thoroughly and practice. It should take a month roughly If you are practicing daily and giving each domain a week, but it totally depends on your English skills.
Speaking:
For speaking you just need to be yourself but practicing with a partner or even in front of a mirror is very beneficial since it gives you confidence in your speaking ability and increases the chances of good score on the test day. In this way you also get familiarized with the common topics and pattern of the exam. It is more like clinical sitting in which you have to counsel a patient or maybe you have to explain the patient about a particular problem but the main part is communication and understanding what your patient is saying and answering accordingly.
Writing:
Writing part is different and you need to go through the practice material on OET website that will give you an overview of what is required. You have to read through all the data which is given and you should be able to skim it and make a summary of the relevant task given to you. If you are a doctor, you will choose writing samples for medicine from OET website for your practice.
Listening:
Listening part is more like the IELTS but the plus point is it is medicine related and you will hear what a medical professional will be hearing in real scenario, it just needs your focus at that particular time.
Reading:
Reading part is also similar to IELTS difference being in the language which would be more understandable for the medicine related people. You need to practice this a lot though because you have to be quick as well as a smart reader.
In conclusion I would say that after going through both IELTS and OET I suggest every medical professional to give a try to OET after preparing for just 1 month and I am sure this will increase your chances of success.
Do visit the website below for further details.
