OET Medicine Listening
What each part tests
OET Medicine Listening runs about 40 minutes, is played once only, and carries 42 questions. Part A is two consultations with 12 note-completion gaps each, so accuracy on concrete detail decides the marks: drug names and doses, frequency, dates, durations, test results and past history. Part B is six short workplace extracts, one multiple-choice question each, testing gist, purpose and the action the speaker wants taken. Part C is two five-minute interviews or presentations with six questions each, testing main idea, detail, inference and the speaker's attitude.
Rules that decide marks
- The audio is not repeated; write as you listen and respect the gap word limit printed on the paper.
- Part A answers must be spelt correctly - a misspelt drug name loses the mark even when the detail was heard.
- Numbers may be written as figures; words must be the ones actually spoken.
- In Part B, the correct option is what the speaker intends, not the first plausible statement you hear.
Worked example
A GP says: 'She started ramipril 5 milligrams once daily in March, and we doubled it in June.' The gap reads 'Ramipril: ____ mg daily (since June)'. The answer is 10. The reasoning: the gap is anchored to June, so the starting dose of 5 is a deliberate distractor, and 'doubled' requires the small calculation 5 × 2. Writing 5 means you recorded the first number heard rather than the one the item asks for.
Traps that cost marks
- Gaps that reverse chronology ('before this admission'), catching candidates who write the most recent figure.
- Negation and hedging: 'she hasn't had any chest pain since' versus 'she has had chest pain'.
- Part B options that quote the extract word for word but answer a different question.
- Part C options that are true in general medicine but not stated or implied by this particular speaker.