Discharge and referral are the most common types of OET letters for doctors and nurses so it makes sense for you to practice writing them well beforehand. While referral letter samples are easily available for download, an approach to writing excellent OET discharge letters hasn’t been discussed in detail yet on the internet and samples are scarce. It is interesting to note from our experience that doctors are keener on learning how to write a discharge letter, but nurses can also benefit from the tips given in this article as the writing skills discussed here can be used in other letters as well.
Table of Contents
- OET Case Notes for Discharge Letter (Medicine)
- Intorduction – Patient, Purpose & Chief Complaint
- Body Paragraph 1 – Past Medical & Famil Hisotry
- Body Paragrph 2 – Hospitalisation & Treatment/Management
- Body Paragraph 3 – Current Condition & Discharge Plan
- Conclusion – Not Included in Word Count
- Complementary Close – Yours…
- OET Discharge Letter Mock Test
- Final Sample Letter
Overall, although the frequency of OET discharge letters appearing in the OET test is not high, it is still worthwhile learning how to write them because a lack of experience writing discharge letters can affect an OET candidate’s exam performance.
The OET sample case notes for doctors given below involve a patient who is going to be discharged from the hospital and needs to be reviewed by a chest physician. The case notes are reasonable in number and the scenario seems straightforward for doctors and nurses.
This OET sample discharge letter would fare well based on the new OET assessment criteria because relevant case notes have been covered in a coherent manner.
Paragraphing structure is logical too. The doctor in this case has ensured that a number of grammatical parameters– such as articles, tenses, capitalisation and word choice – are accurate in this sample OET discharge letter.
If you are a nurse or doctor and are struggling to write OET letters during practice at home, or you have found yourself making a number of mistakes in the above areas, all you have to do is use our OET Writing Correction Service and we will correct all your mistakes in your discharge or referral letters and give you useful tips for the writing sub-test. This way, you can find the most accurate answers for your sample OET letter.
| OET DOCTOR CASE NOTES |
NOTES: You are a doctor at Prospect Hospital. Your patient is being discharged from the hospital today. Patient: Julia Roberts D.0.B: 15/03/1965 326, Henley Beach Road, Underdale Admission Date: 10/9/19 Discharge Date: 21/9/19 Medical History:
Family and Social:
Current Medication: 10/9/19
12/9/19
14/9/19
16/9/19
18/7/19
19/9/19
21/9/19
Discharge Plan:
WRITING TASK: |
Now that you have read the case notes, remember the following basic instructions when you practice writing an OET letter.
In your answer:
- Expand the relevant case notes into complete sentences
- Do not use note form
- Use the correct OET letter format
- The body of your OET letter should be approximately 180 – 200 words
Here is the ideal structure for the body of the letter in relation to medical case notes:
- Introduction
- Body Paragraph 1 – Past medical history
- Body Paragraph 2 – Hospitalisation
- Body Paragraph 3 – Current Condition & Discharge Plan
- Conclusion
Let’s examine these one by one to see how you should write each paragraph and what you need to include in them.
| Introduction |
With the new OET writing assessment criteria in place, one of the most important tips is to ensure the introduction of OET letter has a clear purpose. Also, giving a diagnosis here helps the reader have a better understanding of the patient’s situation. You can start your sample discharge letter by writing the purpose: I am writing to request pulmonary rehabilitation for name, age and marital status: Ms Roberts, a 54-year-old divorced teacher, who (Tip: When referring to the patient, it’s advisable to write the title (Ms) and the last name (Roberts). Also, if you can calculate the age of the patient, then writing the age is also a good approach to help your reader understand the patient quickly) Take note, a comma before the relative clause “who” has been written. Let’s write the chief complaint: who underwent treatment for suspected hospital-acquired pneumonia. (Tip: It’s important to note to whom and why you are writing the letter. Since this sample discharge letter is to a chest physician and the purpose is pulmonary sessions, focusing on femur fracture and blood loss would NOT be a wise decision here. Hence, be careful while choosing the right case notes in the introduction of your letter and this sample demonstrates that clearly) Admission along with reason and discharge date: She was admitted following a fall at home while descending the stairs and is due to be discharged today. (Tip: A good approach when you practice writing an OET discharge letter is to add the discharge date in the introduction to inform the recipient where the patient is at this stage. This approach is equally effective for transfer letters, both for doctors and nurses) So, the introduction of your OET letter would look like this: I am writing to request pulmonary rehabilitation for Ms Roberts, a 54-year-old divorced teacher, who underwent treatment for hospital-acquired pneumonia. She was admitted following a fall at home while descending the stairs and is due to be discharged today. |
| Body Paragraph 1 – Past Medical & Family History |
You must write only the relevant aspects of past medical history. This rule applies to nurses as well, as nursing samples have a similar structure. At the same time, try to summarise aspects of past medical history that are either normal or relatively less important. Let’s use these tips to practice identifying relevant case notes:
Hence writing this would make more sense: Ms Roberts has had COPD since 2005 for which she takes Flovent and Pulmicort inhalers. (Tip: ‘has had’, in this sentence, means ‘has been suffering from’. Alternatively, you may even write –Ms Roberts was diagnosed with COPD in 2005. Since Flovent and Pulmicort are brand names, they need to start with a capital letter. More on capitalisation here. (Tip: Note that writing about an ongoing disease and the respective medication in the same sentence allows you to save some words and an extra sentence, thereby making your letter concise, as shown in this sample letter. Since appendectomy is not a very important piece of information for the chest physician and took place long time ago, not adding it would NOT affect the discharge letter. Now let’s have a look at Ms Robert’s parents
From a learning perspective, here is how family medical history can be added in summary form: She has a positive family history of lung disease in both her parents. Now, let’s combine all the sentences with the help of transitions to make a cohesive paragraph. Ms Roberts has had COPD since 2005 for which she takes Flovent and Pulmicort inhalers. Apart from that, she has a positive family history of lung disease in both her parents. |
| Body Paragraph 1 – Hospitalisation & Treatment/Management |
(Tip: Getting OET case notes with multiple dates during hospitalisation is very common as this sample shows. It does not necessitate covering all these dates, and only the most important aspects should be mentioned. Let’s have a look at the chosen OET writing case notes in this sample first, which have been extracted here)
During hospitalization, Ms Roberts initially received blood transfusion, morphine, Panadeine forte and wound dressing for a fractured femur and haemorrhage. (Tip: Since her admission had initially taken place due to the fracture and she received treatment for the same, the associated writing practice case notes cannot be overlooked completely. So, try to write this information in brief to help the reader understand the broader picture.)
However, on the 16th of September, she exhibited features of pneumonia, manifested as fever, cough and pleuritic chest pain. On examination, her temperature was 38.4 and oxygen saturation was 94 for which 2L of oxygen therapy was given. (Some of the important vitals have been covered along with oxygen therapy)
Intravenous linezoid therapy was instituted after a chest X-ray had revealed a dense white shadow. (here intervention as well as details of the x-ray have been mentioned.) (OET Grammar Tip: The sentence has been written in passive voice so the use of past perfect tense exists.) Now, let’s combine all the sentences with the help of transitions to make a cohesive paragraph. During hospitalisation, Ms Roberts initially received blood transfusion, morphine, Panadeine forte and wound dressing for a fractured femur and hemorrhage. However, on the 16th of September, she exhibited features of pneumonia, manifested as fever, cough and pleuritic chest pain. On examination, her temperature was 38.4 and oxygen saturation was 94 for which 2L of oxygen therapy was given. Intravenous linezolid therapy was instituted after a chest X-ray had revealed a dense white shadow. |
| Body Paragraph 3 – Current Condition & Discharge Plan |
After discussing whatever happened during hospitalisation, it’s now time to start with the current condition of the patient. This is a very important part of the OET letter writing puzzle as unless the reader knows how the patient is (which means, whether her condition has improved, deteriorated or remained the same), they cannot proceed well. Besides, it allows for a good flow from the current condition and it’s much easier to transition to the discharge plan. Let’s find out how! Important point – Some OET candidates prefer writing about the current condition soon after the introduction. Note that such a practice in OET letter writing is also acceptable but care must be taken to keep the letter coherent.
Apart from chest pain while coughing, Mr Roberts has progressed well and her ECG was normal.
However, following her discharge, it is important to continue inhalers and oral iron supplements. Since we are changing the topic from current condition to discharge plan, you need a transitional word to maintain coherence. Use of “however” would let you do that.
Please note, she needs to review her condition including blood examinations with her GP in a week’s time. (Tip: It’s not a bad idea to start with “please note” for appointments, reminders or anything where emphasis needs to be given.) Now, let’s combine all the sentences with the help of transitions to make a cohesive paragraph. Apart from chest pain, Mr Roberts has progressed well and her ECG was normal. However, following her discharge, it is important to continue inhalers and oral iron supplements. Please note, she needs to review her condition including blood examinations with her GP in a week’s time. |
| Conclusion |
Time to wrap up the OET letter by writing a conclusion: Your further pulmonary rehabilitation sessions would be greatly appreciated. Here again, we are emphasising the main purpose of the letter. Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me. The above is a standard sentence. Now, let’s combine all the sentences into a concluding paragraph. Your further pulmonary rehabilitation sessions would be greatly appreciated. Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me. |
| Complementary Close |
Yours sincerely, Doctor |
| OET Discharge Letter Mock Test |
| Final OET Writing Sample Discharge Letter for Doctors |
Dr Super Mario 21/09/19 Dear Dr Mario, I am writing to request pulmonary rehabilitation for Ms Roberts, a 54-year-old divorced teacher, who underwent treatment for suspected pneumonia. She was admitted following a fall at home while descending the stairs and is due to be discharged today. Ms Roberts has had COPD since 2005 for which she takes Flovent and Pulmicort inhalers. During hospitalization, Ms Roberts initially received blood transfusion, morphine, Panadeine forte and wound dressing for a fractured femur and hemorrhage. However, on the 16th of September, she exhibited features of pneumonia, manifested as fever, cough and pleuritic chest pain. On examination, her temperature was 38.4 and oxygen saturation was 94 for which 2L of oxygen therapy was given. Intravenous linezolid therapy was instituted after a chest X-ray had revealed a dense white shadow. Apart from chest pain while coughing, Ms Roberts has progressed well and her ECG was normal. However, following her discharge, it is important to continue inhalers and oral iron supplements. Please note, she needs to review her condition including blood examinations with her GP in a week’s time. Your further pulmonary rehabilitation sessions would be greatly appreciated. Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours sincerely, |
Hope you like the above OET medicine letter sample based on discharge case notes. Visit our other posts for more tips and nursing and medicine referral and discharge samples.
I appreciate the email.its alot interesting to learn from it.
I appreciate the sample OET Letters,and would like to learn more.
Here is another one: https://edubenchmark.com/blog/oet-sample-referral-letter/
Also, to improve your writing skills further, you may use our Writing Correction Service: https://edubenchmark.com/oet-writing-correction
pls provide me more oet writing for nurses. thank you so much
https://edubenchmark.com/blog/oet-sample-referral-letter/
thanks …i learned a lot from above letter.
Here is another useful one: https://edubenchmark.com/blog/oet-sample-referral-letter/
This is informative and l have been helped. Thank you doctor
Please provide referral letter for social worker
This is fantastic but does it mean that it is only Doctor will be asked to write a discharged letter? Thank you
That’s not necessary. Even nurses can write discharge letters.
Is repeating ”Your further pulmonary rehabilitation sessions would be ….” again in the conclusion considered redundancy , as it is already stated in the introduction ??
Thank your for that amazing letter though. I would like to know if there is something like that for other OET letter types.
Yes, in a way it is but if it helps reach 180 words, then it’s not a bad idea to do so.
When re-writing case notes, I understand you’re expected to use your own words, but if you’re unsure of a word (e.g. white patches = dense white shadow), should you risk using the word? Or stick to what is written in the case notes?
Also, I noticed ibuprofen, sputum and iv antibiotic notes were omitted. Do you risk marks for accuracy, or gain marks for conciseness in doing so?
Any help is much appreciated, thanks
No, there wont’ be a penalty for writing the medical terms/conditions as given in the case notes. You could write about ibuprofen (we missed in the sample letter), while IV information is provided.
I learned a lot from your discharge letter thank you benchmark
i want to buy letter writing correction for oet
To get your letters checked, simply visit this link and buy a package from the table: https://edubenchmark.com/oet-writing-correction#pricetable
Soon after the purchase, you will receive an email with Letter Submission Instructions. All you need to do is follow those instructions and submit your letters for correction to [email protected].
To arrange the leeter for a coherent information like for the pain history and its recovery in subsequent visits, will i have to write examination findings in each visit? Or i can ommit that part for coherence.
Thank you so much for the great job you are doing, I was not able to writing a discharge letter and I learn a lot from it
Hi, good sharing. Just a question, the writing question will be given based based on what profession you are or is random? Thanks.
based on your occupation.
Good helpful
Provide sample case notes fir pharmacist please.
Thank you
I want to know that if I’m a discharge letter, we didn’t mention a further referral to urologist when necessary. How much is this thing penalised ?
Quite helpful and educating