OET Letter Writing Vocabulary: Referral Phrases
The OET Writing task is a professional letter. The vocabulary that makes it read like a clinician wrote it is small, specific and learnable.
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In the OET Writing sub-test you turn case notes into a letter: usually a referral, a discharge or a transfer. The assessors look for a letter a colleague could act on, written in the right register. That depends on a set of phrases that recur in every good letter: how you open, how you summarise a history, how you state what you are asking for.
The words and phrases below come from the OET letter-writing and referral topics in the Lexfall corpus, each with an example sentence written as it would appear in a real letter.
40 words to know
Verbs
ameliorate verb
To make something bad or unsatisfactory better.
Physiotherapy has done much to ameliorate his shoulder stiffness since the last review.
ascertain verb
To find out or establish something with certainty.
Further imaging was arranged to ascertain the cause of the swelling.
delineate verb
To describe or set out something precisely.
The plan below delineates the responsibilities of each team after discharge.
expedite verb
To speed up a process or make it happen sooner.
I would be grateful if you could expedite an outpatient appointment.
necessitate verb
To make a particular action or measure necessary.
His deterioration necessitated transfer to a higher level of care.
rationalise verb
To simplify or reorganise something, such as a medication list, to make it more efficient.
We have taken the opportunity to rationalise her medications during this admission.
Nouns
addressee noun
The person to whom a letter or message is directed.
Make sure the addressee's full title and department appear at the top of your letter.
cessation noun
The fact or process of coming to an end or bringing something to an end.
He has been referred to the local service for support with smoking cessation.
deferral noun
The act of postponing something to a later time.
Deferral of her surgery was agreed until her chest infection has fully cleared.
discontinuation noun
The act of stopping something, such as a treatment, that was previously in place.
The rash resolved following discontinuation of the antibiotic, so this has been recorded as a suspected reaction.
exacerbation noun
A worsening or flare-up of an existing condition.
He was admitted with an acute exacerbation of a chronic respiratory disease.
optimisation noun
The process of making something as effective or favourable as possible.
He has been referred to the heart failure clinic for optimisation of his medical therapy.
readmission noun
The act of being admitted to hospital again after discharge.
Close community follow-up is requested to reduce the risk of early readmission.
reconciliation noun
The process of checking records against each other to ensure accuracy and consistency.
Medicines reconciliation was completed by the ward pharmacist on the day of admission.
recuperation noun
The process of recovering health or strength.
A period of recuperation at a respite facility has been arranged before he returns home.
repatriation noun
The transfer of a patient back to their local hospital or home region.
We are arranging repatriation to her local district hospital once she is medically stable.
synopsis noun
A brief summary giving a general overview of something.
A brief synopsis of his admission is provided at the start of this letter.
Adjectives
ambivalent adjective
Having mixed or contradictory feelings about something.
She remains ambivalent about surgery and would like to discuss the options further with you.
amenable adjective
Open and responsive to suggestion, or capable of being treated in a particular way.
He is amenable to a trial of community physiotherapy and has agreed to attend.
expedient adjective
Convenient and practical, though possibly not ideal.
It was considered expedient to transfer him to the local hospital closer to his family.
innocuous adjective
Not harmful or offensive.
The lesion appears innocuous, but I would value a dermatology opinion for reassurance.
interdisciplinary adjective
Involving professionals from several different fields working together.
An interdisciplinary meeting was held before discharge to agree on his home support package.
judicious adjective
Having or showing good judgement and sense.
Judicious use of pain relief allowed her to participate fully in rehabilitation.
nonspecific adjective
Not clearly indicating any particular cause or condition.
She presented with nonspecific symptoms of tiredness and low-grade fever.
precipitating adjective
Causing an event or condition to happen suddenly.
A urinary infection was felt to be the precipitating cause of her confusion.
prognostic adjective
Relating to or helping to predict the likely course of a disease.
The biopsy results contain important prognostic information, which I have discussed with the family.
protracted adjective
Lasting for a long time or longer than expected.
Following a protracted admission, she has lost considerable muscle strength.
recalcitrant adjective
Resistant to treatment or difficult to manage.
Her recalcitrant eczema has not responded to topical measures, hence this referral.
transient adjective
Lasting only for a short time; temporary.
He experienced transient dizziness on standing, which settled before discharge.
untoward adjective
Unexpected and inappropriate or adverse.
The infusion was completed without any untoward reaction.
unwarranted adjective
Not justified or authorised.
We felt that repeat endoscopy was unwarranted given the recent normal result.
Adverbs and connectors
appreciably adverb
To a degree that is large enough to be noticed or measured.
Her renal function has not changed appreciably since the previous letter.
concurrently adverb
At the same time as something else.
She is concurrently under the care of the rheumatology team for her joint symptoms.
expeditiously adverb
With speed and efficiency.
I would be grateful if this referral could be processed expeditiously given the suspicious findings.
forthwith adverb
Immediately and without delay.
Should the swelling recur, she has been advised to attend the emergency department forthwith.
herewith adverb
With this letter or document.
A copy of her most recent echocardiogram report is enclosed herewith.
hitherto adverb
Until now or until the point in time under discussion.
She had hitherto been fit and well, with no significant medical history.
intermittently adverb
At irregular intervals; not continuously.
He has been intermittently breathless on exertion over the past month.
markedly adverb
To a noticeable or significant degree.
His exercise tolerance has improved markedly since attending pulmonary rehabilitation.
Phrases and idioms
commenced on phrase
Started on a medicine or treatment (formal clinical writing).
The patient was commenced on antibiotics on admission.
Learning the list, not just reading it
Reading a list once does not make the words yours. Lexfall is a vocabulary app that teaches words like these a few at a time, then brings each one back with spaced review just before you would forget it. This page shows 40 of the 83 words on this list in the app.
It does not coach the exam or mark your work. It builds the vocabulary those things draw on.
This article is about vocabulary, not exam coaching. OET is a trademark of Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment. Lexfall is not affiliated with or endorsed by it.
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