Now, read the case notes and "mark" the patient's name and age (P1). You need these two elements to start writing the letter, in the Subject-line (Re:)

You will find this at the start of the case notes. You have to be sure of the patient's gender. If it is a woman, check if she is addressed Mrs or Ms. If the patient is a boy, address him Master (upto 17 years) and Miss if the patient is a girl (upto 17 years). If it is below 3 years, call him / her "Baby Ryan."

Now, let's find the Purpose (P2) of the Letter. Every letter has a purpose, like, home-care, assessment and treatment, providing advice, dietary guidance, etc.

You find P2 at the end of the case-notes. Turn the pages and go to the end of the case notes. Locate P2 in the Writing Task area. You can view samples of case notes below.

Next is the name of the "Recipient (R1)." A Recipient can be a nurse, a doctor, a physiotherapist, or, sometimes, the parent of a patient, whoever will receive your letter.

You find R1 at the end of the case notes, usually in the Writing Task area. In case it is not found there, there are lower chances of find R1 at the start of the case notes.

The next we are going to mark is "Requests". Similar to Purpose but more than just one, Requests are found either in the Writing Task area or in the "Plan" area just before the Writing Task area.

Beware, in some cases, you may not see Plan or Discharge Plan before Writing task. In such cases, Requests will be based on the last date (today's date) mentioned in the case notes.

To pass OET Writing, you should not include any irrelevant information in the letters. You can decide what is relevant by asking - "is this information going to help the recipient?"

We never need to tell the emergency doctor about Mr Parker's family because the emergency doctor is not going to benefit from knowing this. You can tell the emergency doctor about the medicines Mr Parker was given before transfer.

We are off to mark the patient's Admission Condition (A1) and Admission Date (A2). Admission Condition is the very condition with which the patient was admitted / presented.

Remember, all the patients are not admitted to the hospital. Some patients just visit a doctor / nurse and go without getting admitted. So, let's remember, A1 means Admission / Presenting condition while A2 is Admission / Presenting Date.

You find A1 and A2 at the starting of the case notes.

Now, let's mark the Discharge Condition (D1) and Discharge Date (D2). The most common D1 are "recuperating from viral infection, recuperating after colostomy, has post-operative complications," etc. A very common D2 is "She is being discharged; She is ready for transfer," etc.

You find D2 in the starting of the case-notes and D2 in the middle or end of the case notes. Sometimes, when you see no Discharge Date, don't worry. The last date will be the discharge date (D2).

The next we will mark on the case notes is Date of Writing (D3).

In most cases, D3 and D2 (Discharge Date) will be the same. However, OET can confuse you by providing a different D2 and D3.

You find D3 at the starting of a case notes, usually under NOTES, labelled "Today's Date." If you do not find this, chances are that you find D3 at the end of the case notes.

Now you have to see if the patient's condition is diagnosed or not diagnosed (D4). You can find D4 either in the starting or on the dates or at the end.

Never start writing the letter without "Marking" D4. If it is diagnosed, you must have provided treatment as well. If not diagnosed, you must be transferring or referring the patient to a doctor.

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