24/04/2018
Healthcare regulators and employers worldwide are recognising the Occupational English Test (OET) as an effective way of ensuring that staff have the English language skills they need.
The latest official body to join the list of recognising organisations is the Ukrainian Medical Council, along with the organisations that regulate the employment of nurses, midwives and other healthcare professions in Ukraine. This means that healthcare professionals who qualify in other countries will be able to use OET to support their application for registration in Ukraine.
OET is officially recognised by healthcare regulators in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Dubai and Namibia and has recently been adopted as an official test for doctors, nurses and midwives who need to prove their English language skills to work in healthcare in the Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Sujata Stead, CEO of Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment explains that “recognition of OET by the Ukrainian Medical Council, Ukrainian Council of Nursing and Midwifery and Ukrainian Professional Council of Public Health Services is a milestone for OET. The test is widely used in English-speaking countries, but healthcare professions operate globally and English is a vital skill all over the world.”
Unlike other English tests, OET test materials are based on real healthcare scenarios, with separate tests available for 12 different healthcare professions. This means that educators and employers can be confident that successful candidates have the level of English communication skills required for safe and high-quality patient care. At the same time, healthcare professionals find the test accessible because it is based on familiar workplace situations, helping them to ensure that they can use English effectively in their professional life.
Originally launched in Australia in the 1980s, the test is managed by Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment, a venture between Melbourne’s Boxhill Institute and Cambridge Assessment English, a department of the University of Cambridge.