The candidate card
Setting
Paediatric outpatient clinic
Candidate
You are a dietitian. Ms Valentina Luna has brought her 20-month-old daughter, who has been referred by the GP after blood tests showed iron-deficiency anaemia. The referral letter says the child drinks more than a litre of cow's milk a day from a bottle and eats very few solid foods. The medical team is managing her iron treatment, and you have been asked to review her diet.
Task (interlocutor: parent)
- Find out about her daughter's usual daily milk intake, eating pattern and use of the bottle
- Explain in simple terms how drinking a lot of milk can lead to low iron
- Persuade Ms Luna to reduce milk gradually to about 500 mL a day and move from a bottle to a cup (address her concerns about her daughter going hungry)
- Suggest iron-rich foods and practical ways to offer them
- Agree a plan and arrange follow-up
In the test you get 3 minutes to read the card and plan, then about 5 minutes to talk. This card is original, written for this site; the interlocutor's card is not shown.
How to approach this card
- The referral gives the headline, so check it with her rather than repeat it. Ask for a typical day of milk, how it is given, and which solid foods her daughter eats. Use open questions and avoid judging the bottle.
- Before asking for any change, link the large milk volume with low iron in one short, blame-free sentence. Make clear milk itself is not the enemy. Say the medical team manages the iron treatment and your role is food.
- When you ask her to cut down gradually to about 500 mL and use a cup, first ask what she expects to happen. Reflect her concern about her daughter going hungry, then link it to offering more solid foods.
- Offer a small number of realistic iron-rich foods for a toddler who eats few solids, with practical ways to offer them. Let her choose what suits her daughter. Do not comment on or change the iron treatment.
- Close with small steps: let her pick the first change, agree follow-up and have her summarise. If time is short, prioritise the milk reasoning, one food idea and follow-up. The typical error is sounding as if she caused this.
Phrases to adapt
Use your own words; these show the register, not lines to memorise.
- Thank you for bringing her in today; none of this is about blame.
- What worries you most about cutting down the milk?
- We'll go gradually, so she isn't left hungry.
- What do you think would be easiest to try first this week?
Medical words in plain English
| Term | How you might say it to the patient |
|---|---|
| iron-deficiency anaemia | Not enough iron in the body, so the blood carries oxygen less well. |
| milk intake | How much milk she drinks across a whole day. |
| weaning off the bottle | Slowly moving her from a bottle to drinking from a cup. |
How this card is marked
Two assessors mark the recording on nine criteria: intelligibility, fluency, appropriateness of language and resources of grammar and expression (each 0–6), then relationship building, understanding and incorporating the patient's perspective, providing structure, information gathering and information giving (each 0–3). Grade B usually means 5 on each language criterion and 2 on each clinical one. See the AI Speaking practice guide for what each criterion looks for.
More Dietetics role-play cards
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- Husband caring for wife with Parkinson's disease Home visit
All sets: nurses, doctors, other professions. Your profession's guide: OET Dietetics.
Questions about this role-play
Should I discuss iron supplements?
No. The medical team is managing the iron treatment, so do not advise on or change it. If she asks, tell her the team will guide her on that, and bring the conversation back to what her daughter eats and drinks.
What if she says her daughter refuses solid foods?
Ask what she has tried and when she offers food, then choose one small step rather than a list of tips. Reassure her that you will check how it went at follow-up, so she isn't expected to solve everything at once.
How should I present the 500 mL figure?
Say about 500 mL and describe it as a goal reached gradually, not an overnight cut. Agree the stages with her and check she can picture it in the cup her daughter will use.
Sources
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