Hello, I'm Jo from Specialist Language Courses, we are OET Premium Preparation Providers which
means we are experienced and skilled in what we do, helping people achieve success in the
OET exam. So in today's video we're going to look at OET writing and how to select relevant
information from the case notes, we will look at things to consider when analysing the case notes
and how to select relevant information. There are several steps involved in writing an OET letter,
Step 1, read the case notes and find out who you were writing to and why, Step 2, decide
what information is relevant and what information the reader does not need to know, analyse the case
notes. These first steps will help you fulfil the content and conciseness and clarity criteria. For
more information on the steps involved in writing an OET letter, click on the link on the screen.
The most important thing to consider when analysing the case notes, is the reader of
the letter and the reason for writing, the purpose of the letter. This is important because it will
help you decide what information is relevant to include. You will find this information at the
bottom of the case notes and you should read this information first. Let's take a look at a writing
task, using the information in the case notes, write a discharge letter to Emma Humphrey the
nurse at Summerton Retirement Home where Mr Smith lives, informing her of the patient's current
situation and care required. So in this situation, we find out there is an existing relationship in
place, the reader already knows the patient, we can also see what the focus of the letter should
be. Let's continue looking at this example, so in this case, the fact that the patient underwent
a total right hip replacement is relevant. The reader does need to know this information because
it tells them the main treatment received however, here in the past medical history,
details of previous operations are not relevant to the current situation or ongoing care,
also in this case, the patient's hypertension and medication. Although it's an existing condition,
it does not need to be included, because the reader already knows this. In the OET exam, there
will always be irrelevant information included to distract you, so you need to continuously ask
yourself, does the reader need to know this? How do you select information? Well, once you have the
reason for writing and the reader clear in your mind, you should then read through the case notes
and decide essential information for the reader, so information that is directly related to the
care the reader needs to provide, irrelevant information, information that is not related
to this case or information that does not impact the care or course of action to be completed by
the reader. Remember, each set of case notes is different, so where past medical history might be
relevant for one task, it might be completely irrelevant for another, let's look at some
tools we can use the select information. So, one option is to ask yourself some guiding questions,
such as who are you and who are you writing to?, why?, the purpose of the letter, for example, to
request ongoing care, what is the key information to include?, what information is not relevant to
the purpose of the letter?, or option 2, you can use ISBAR, which stands for Identify, so
the patient's name, age and how they're connected to you, so there might be a patient on your ward.
Situation, why are you writing about this person? to transfer the care to another facility and
the main medical issue. Background, any relevant parts of the patient's medical history and social
background. Assessment, how the patient is now and any treatment they're receiving, and finally,
Recommendation or Request, what do you want the other person to do? for example, monitor the diet
and any other information they need to know for ongoing care. Remember, only select information
relating to the care to be provided by the reader. For an example of selecting relevant information,
click on the link on the screen. Top tips for selecting relevant
information. Always look at the task at the bottom of the case notes first to find out
the reader and the reason for writing, always keep in mind the person you are writing to,
are there any existing relationships in place? and only select information that's relevant to
this case and a care to be provided by the reader. So thanks for watching, if you'd like more tips
and strategies on how to prepare for the OET exam, check out our website see the link below. Please,
like and share this video so we can help more people achieve success in the OET exam,
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